


Impostor On Board

by Hertz



Category: Among Us (Video Game)
Genre: Alien Biology, Alien Cultural Differences, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-30
Updated: 2021-01-14
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:01:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 23,913
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26723329
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hertz/pseuds/Hertz
Summary: When Black admits they don’t want to kill anyone, the crew befriend the alien and learn the creature’s strange habits.
Comments: 374
Kudos: 1609
Collections: Among Us





	1. Chapter 1

It had barely been a few minutes into the mission when White had said, “According to MIRA, there is an imposter among us,” and Black had broken down sobbing on their knees.

“I can’t do it,” they gasped, while everyone else stared at them. “The boss said I had to do it. I need to kill you all… but I can’t.” They hung their head and hiccuped. “This is so wrong. I never wanted this. I don’t want to -“

“Black, it’s okay,” said Yellow, surprisingly gently when faced with a supposed alien shapeshifting murderer, apparently just as inexperienced as them all when it came to this sort of situation.

“Please don’t kill me,” Black pleaded.

“I don’t think we could even if we wanted to,” Red pointed out. They bent down and tentatively reached for Black’s shoulder. “Uh, well, thanks for admitting it.”

“Who’s making you do this? Why?” White asked, voice grave.

Black glanced at them, hesitating for a while. “I’m sorry. Can’t tell, not right now. They might know, then you’d all be in danger too. I’ll go home after this, I swear. I’ll tell them the mission failed.”

“What will happen to you then?” asked Red.

Black was silent, before they shivered. “I'll be sent for reconditioning.”

Everyone went quiet, before White shook their head and took charge again. “I’ll ask HQ what to do with you.”

“No, please!” Black got to their feet as White walked away.

“No, no, not in a bad way,” White answered as they rounded the corner. “What you eat, how you sleep, you know, all that.” Their voice faded as they left.

Black was silent, though they seemed more embarrassed, sheepish now. “What do I do now?”

Blue shrugged. “We’ll do what we were sent here to do and you can just chill, I guess.”

Black looked like they were wanting to say something else, before they shut their mouth. Nodding, they headed off in the direction of the bunk beds.

.

That was how the whole ship, strangely enough, had gotten used to having an imposter on board.

“Is that your true form?” Lime asked one day while they were at the cafeteria chomping on sandwiches. Everyone paused. Blue made fake gagging sounds.

“No, but this way it frightens you less, doesn’t it?” Black replied. They had not touched their sandwich at all.

“Monster movies were already great, and now there’s one right here! It’d be so cool if you transformed,” Brown remarked.

“Or it could make you lose your appetite.” Black sneakily tried to slide their sandwich to Pink. They accepted it with a nod.

“What does it look like?” Brown asked.

“Um,” Black fiddled with their stomach. “My face is here, for starters.”

“Okay, moving on,” said White, elbowing Brown a little.

Having an imposter around was surprisingly fun. Black trailed around a group of the crew most of the time, wanting to prove themself trustworthy. Soon, they seemed to pick up basic tasks here and there. Especially emptying the garbage chute. Black seemed to have an odd fascination with it.

“Dude, what is your deal?” Blue had said after recovering from their shock from seeing Black camped out inside the damn thing.

“It’s warm and cozy, like a nest,” Black said. Their helmet didn’t react, but their lower body twitched.

“What kind of nest is… would that… even be?”

“We collect metal scraps and hide in corners of our homes,” said Black, playing with the leaves gathered inside the garbage. “And these toys are fun, too.”

“These are plant leaves.”

“I’ve never seen a plant with ‘leaves’,” said Black, gazing up at Blue with wide eyes. “I like them. They’re crunchy.” Their stomach unzipped to reveal a giant toothy maw, spitting out a chewed out ball of plant mass.

A little strange, but oddly adorable, Blue thought of it. 

Of course, the crew should really have thought to educate their alien on board before they tried to kill them all. By accident.

“We trusted you!” White was screaming as Yellow and Red held them back. Black was cowering in the corner, their hands held up, what they had learnt was a sign of peace amongst humans.

“Please, I don’t know what I did!”

“You knew very well what you did! You were sabotaging the oxygen regulators!”

“Sabotaging? I wouldn’t call it that,” said Black, genuinely puzzled. “How do all of you breathe with this much oxygen on board? I was trying to help.”

Everyone glared Black down while Red slapped their forehead. White was released so they could give a disapproving sigh. “Black, no. We _need_ oxygen. We breathe it in here,” they gestured to their lungs, “and we’ll all die without it, painfully and quickly. First we’ll gasp like fish on land, then our skin turns blue, then we have a massive stroke or heart attack or -”

“I’m so sorry!” Black looked like they were about to jump into the vents. “I didn’t know that, promise. I’ve not tried to hurt any of you since we all came onboard. You know that, don’t you?”

White shook their head. “Yeah, but you know what? You really need to know how we work.”

Black was fascinated by their crewmates.

“This is a toilet?” Black asked, standing on the lid for whatever reason. “That’s so cool! You produce solid waste?”

“You don’t?” Yellow asked, confused, leaning against the sink. They watched as Black made to push the flush button and grabbed their arm. “No no no, don’t touch that when you haven’t gone, jeez.”

“Sorry.” Black was peering into the shower. “You guys drink from here but eat in the cafeteria?”

“Have you never heard of a shower or something?”

“No,” said Black. Of course.

“How do you… you know,” Yellow gestured awkwardly at, well, all of Black.

“We groom ourselves and each other by licking ourselves clean.” Said tongue crept out from the middle of Black’s torso to demonstrate. Yellow watched, slightly fascinated by the thin, alien slick that formed at tip of it. The tip which looked horribly, horribly sharp. Yellow was starting to have a hunch about how malevolent imposters on board those other ships had beheaded their victims so quietly.

And while other ships had reported that imposters had excellent night vision and murders commonly happened when not many of the crew were awake to witness anything, they found out that Black, at least, did get tired in the night.

Brown was woken up by phantom movements on their bed, stifling a scream as they saw eyes glowing in the dark back at them. It was Black, of course, it had to be, they could hardly make out anything in this dim light.

“Can I sleep here?” Black asked before Brown was able to ask if they were going to eat their arm or something.

Brown blinked, trying to escape their sleepiness. Had they heard that right? “You want to… here.”

“Well… you’re the one next to me, I thought I could ask.”

“Why?”

“I’m cold,” Black said in a voice that was almost a whine, even though the temperature to Brown was hot enough that they had woken up with sweat sticking to their back. Did they really want more body heat in here?

You know what, why not, aliens were cool after all. At the least Black probably wouldn’t think of doing anything inappropriate.

“Get in,” Brown said, uncovering the blanket as an invitation. Black crept in and instantly curled into a ball, not even bothering to use the pillow. Brown shrugged it off and closed their eyes. Drifting off, the last thing they heard was a low thrumming purr that sounded louder than it was possible for the spaceship’s engine to at this distance.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More fluff as requested.

It had been two weeks on board the Skeld. They were estimated to reach Polus in approximately a month or two. Pink hummed as they refueled the ship’s engines.

“Pink, breakfast is ready,” called a voice from inside the vent, and Pink jumped, catching the fuel before it clattered to the ground. “Sorry,” said Black as Pink turned to stare at them.

“You can’t do tasks, so you’ve taken on a job as our breakfast alarm, huh?”

“Well, yes, that and I don't think I can digest your food?” Black frowned. “I know there’s wheat in this thing you call bread.”

“What have you been eating, actually? I haven’t seen you eat anything at all since we met,” Pink asked, concerned.

Wordlessly, Black crawled out of the vent. Pink noticed their lower half was shifting into the familiar suited body similar to their fellow crewmates. Black wandered over to the window and pointed at the large sun to their left.

“From this far away?”

Black pointed at the lights above them.

“I… guess that makes sense.”

“I’m sure you don’t want me to eat you.”

“That would be rather inconvenient.”

“So come on!” Black ran back to the vent and jumped into it, their body dissolving into a gelatinous mass as they landed inside. Pink got onto the floor and peered inside, confused. “It’s a shortcut,” Black said from inside the vent somewhere.

Pink thought over it for a while. Sure, Black had shapeshifted to get inside it quicker, but by the looks of the vent it could be large enough for them to fit…

The rest of breakfast time was spent trying to pull Pink out.

“Why on earth did you think this was a good idea,” White groaned, more of a statement then a question. They were trying their best, grabbing one of Pink’s ankles, while Blue grabbed the other. Black was inside, trying to push Pink out. It kind of hurt.

“Black did it,” Pink protested weakly. “They encouraged me.”

“And you know they can shapeshift!” Blue called back.

“Point taken,” Pink said, sighing. Their stomach growled.

“Oh, are you hungry? I can get something for you.” With that, Black was gone. Pink flailed uselessly, before sighing.

Behind them, they could feel White dropping their ankles and another crewmate moving in to replace them. “Guess you’re gonna have your breakfast here, then?” Lime asked. Oh. It was them. Right.

“Here they are!” Black had reappeared just as fast, and Pink jumped in shock, just enough for their hips to finally slip past the vent opening. With a triumphant cry, Lime and Blue managed to hoist Pink out of the tight fitting vent. They sat on the ground, coughing. “Never again,” they croaked weakly.

Black stuck their now normal head out of the vent. “So, anyone want these?” they offered, sticking out the egg sandwiches as an offering.

Pink did not move, but Blue grabbed two of them.

After that whole ordeal, everyone gathered at the table for brunch, a fact Yellow made sure to rub in for Pink. As the crewmates ate, Black found their eyes flitting over to a shiny glass box. With a curious trill, Black opened the glass case to find a big red button.

The horrible loud blaring made everyone turn their heads and stare at Black until they stopped pressing it. They went back to their sandwiches. Black pressed the button again. White whipped one hand out and grabbed Black’s.

“Do you know what a cat is?” asked White. “A dog? A bird?”

“N-no?” Black replied, trembling.

White regarded them a moment longer before they rummaged in their pocket. “Here are some of the broken wires from electrical. Go play with that instead,” said White, tossing said wires onto the ground and releasing the imposter. Black looked at White before dropping to all fours and winding the wires around their fingers curiously.

“Black purrs,” Brown piped up.

“Somehow, I’m not even surprised,” White said, trying not to seem too interested in the alien’s solo game of Bat The Wires.

Everyone finished eating and was about to leave for their tasks, chatting on the way. Black pocketed the scrap wires and followed Brown and Red into the med bay. The crewmates took a look at the imposter lurking outside their door, took another look at the scanner, before Red was ordering, “Hey, kid, get in the scanner.”

“I’m not a kid,” Black replied, annoyed. “I’m already 142 years old!”

Brown and Red looked at each other. “Some frame of reference, please,” Brown asked. With Black’s behaviour, they had honestly thought they were the equivalent of a young teen.

Black lifted their index finger and waggled it a bit. “Old enough to have children. Not old enough to be responsible for them.”

“A teenager?”

“No, those are barely even kids.”

“Nevermind,” Red said quickly. “Anyway, you should probably get a scan, see if there’s anything wrong with you, you know? Health, all that.”

“Sure.” Black idly walked over to the scanner, stepping on it, seemingly amazed. With Brown’s directions, Red activated the scanner. The crewmates huddled around the monitor, looking at the data.

“Are those _tentacles_ under your helmet?” Red asked, baffled, cocking their head to the right.

“And _teeth_ attached to the end of them?” Brown asked, sounding positively gleeful.

"Yeah, that's why I assume this form for you guys," Black said from where they were still standing on the scanner. “Can I get out of this thing yet? It tickles.”

“Yeah, sure, let’s just save all this for reference, for when you, you know, get sick or whatever,” said Red, tapping on the relevant buttons on the monitor. “We’ll send this to HQ.”

“It’ll help you target our weaknesses, right? Find them easier? Take them out faster?” Black asked a little too casually, still scratching at their arms.

Brown and Red were startled by the sudden accusation. Brown was holding up their hands placatingly, but Black shook their head. “No, I get it. I understand hating us.”

“You’d let us just send data that could endanger all of your friends like that?” Red asked.

Black smiled, but this time it seemed weary. “You humans are different. You form packs not just for protection, but for the company. We don’t have friends, really. Maybe a few. But most of the time, we’re independent.”

Red looked at Brown, then back at Black again. “That sounds pretty lonely.”

“Yeah, but well,” Black gestured aimlessly, “if you got rid of the other imposters, it’d be like finding out a distant acquaintance died. And it’s not like we’re good at heart.”

“But you guys aren’t pure evil,” Brown argued. “We thought that once, but after meeting you, we realised we were wrong. You’re intelligent, and sentient. You made your own choice.”

Black shook their head. “I just wasn’t strong enough. I just couldn’t do it,” was all they answered, dissolving into that familiar mass again, slipping through the med bay vents.

Red and Brown watched Black go, before facing each other again. Through the helmet’s glass they could see each other’s mirrored concern.

“Well, it’s a start,” said Brown. “Black wouldn’t tell us anything about their home life when we first met.”

“You’re right. Think we can get them to open up more?”

“They were worried about us getting into trouble,” Brown pointed out. “Maybe we shouldn’t force it.”

“I wasn’t going to force them!” Red said defensively, crossing their arms. “I just think an imposter’s way of life sounds… not so good, yeah?”

“Yes. So it’s settled, Black will talk when they’re ready.”

“When they’re ready.”

Black, in the vent, considered revealing themselves, before they abandoned the idea and headed in the direction of the cafeteria’s garbage chute.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all of your support, kudos and comments! I really appreciate it, and I hope you enjoy.

After a hard day's work, the crew were all relaxing in the cafeteria, the closest thing they had to a living room. Blue had brought a tablet and everyone was crowded around it. “It’s like a mini computer,” Blue was explaining to Black, who was attempting to unlock their tablet with their own alien fingerprints. It was not working.

“So you guys can scan yourselves like in the med bay using this technology?” Black asked. The lock screen now displayed that it was in time out for five minutes after failed authentication. Confused, they muttered, “it was asking for a fingerprint.”

“Mine, silly.” Blue typed in their passcode and sat the tablet in front of everyone. “You can use computers for all sorts of things, like typing notes, talking to your friends, looking at art, watching videos, and reading books.”

“So what are you going to do with it now?” asked Black, staring at the screen as Blue swiped through tabs.

“How about you pick?” Blue replied with a smile.

“Me?” Black pointed at themself. “I don’t even know how to work this thing.”

“Let’s play Town Of Salem,” said Lime. “Black can be a Mafia guy.”

“You’re supposed to let the AI choose, Lime,” said Yellow.

“I’ve tried, but it doesn’t work for some reason,” Blue said. “Maybe we should watch something?”

“No more romcoms,” Red groaned. “I’ve had enough of the airplane chase scenes. Like, yeah, sure, get arrested, why don’t you?”

"Well, it's not supposed to be a hundred percent realistic!" Blue protested.

“Is it Halloween soon?” Brown wondered aloud, checking their phone before their eyes lit up. “Oh! It is spooky season! Something scary, please!”

“What’s Halloween?” Black asked, curiously looking over Brown’s shoulder. Brown clutched it to their chest with a loud ‘eep!’

“It’s a tradition we celebrate on earth,” White explained. “Kids dress up in costumes and we give them candy when they say ‘trick or treat’.”

“Adults too, if they want,” Brown added.

“You’re a kid to me, Brown. I’m no spring chicken,” White replied, smirking slightly when Brown slapped their shoulder playfully.

“We can’t shapeshift like you do,” Blue explained to Black, quickly searching up some pictures for them to understand what a costume was. “We dress up to seem like what we’re imitating.”

“So is it Halloween everyday for me?” asked Black.

“I… guess you can say that?”

“No, no, it’s a cultural holiday,” Pink said, waving their hands around. “Kinda like… like… Black, what do you guys celebrate?”

“We aren’t really a very celebratory bunch,” said Black, but they started ticking off items using their fingers anyway. “Hatchdays, but that’s more just acknowledgement… I know! When the two moons on our planet overlap in the sky, that’s a lucky occasion. We put cradlele shoots all around the largest stone we can find in our territory, and carve out some runes as symbols of good fortune.”

Noticing the crewmates looked curious, they elaborated, “long blue stalks, red blooms that look like thorns.” Their right arm took the form of a rather strange looking plant in demonstration.

“That’s pretty,” said Brown, clasping their hands together. “Anything else?”

“Uhhh… every year, we lure a pack of ornigraphs,” Black changed into the shape of a small, horned, brown bird-like creature, “into our territory. We allow them to feed on our unfertilised eggs in exchange for them staying for a while.”

“What do they do?”

“They’re said to watch over and protect farmlands from disease. They always leave to hibernate when winter comes, but who knows?"

"I don't think that's really a celebration per se, but cool tradition," said Blue. They looked like they had been typing down all of Black's accounts, fingers over the virtual keys as they looked at Black.

"Yeah, how about we forget about watching alien movies and just watch what Black does all day?" Red joked.

"Please do not watch me all day."

"No, not for real!"

"Aw, come on man, alien movies are cool," Brown protested. "It's not every day you meet one that isn't trying to kill you. Where else was I supposed to get my entertainment?"

"Hm." Lime turned to Black and grinned, raising their eyebrows as they glanced in Brown's direction. "Hey, Black. Tentacle."

Black looked confused, but let their right arm assume its normal shape. Almost timidly, they patted Brown on their suited head. Brown smiled and reached up, squeezing it in their hand. "Hey guys, it's squishy. Like, nice squishy."

"This reminds me of calamari," Red observed, giving in to their curiosity and poking the flesh with one finger. "I'd love to eat some right about now."

"What's calamari?" Black asked.

"It's breaded fried squid," said Red, oblivious to everyone's quiet signals for them to stop talking. "Mostly the body, arms, and tentacles. Octopus is good too, actually. Man, all we have here on the ship are sandwiches. I'd love some sushi -"

"Humans eat tentacles?!" Black yelled, jumping onto the ceiling and curling up in a defensive position. Their glowing eyes were visible, and their stomach-jaw appeared just to hiss at Red.

Red broke into a cold sweat as they finally noticed everyone glaring at them. "Um. Well. Omnivores, am I right?" they tried, looking up at Black. "Black, we don't eat you! Squids! We eat squids!"

"What even are squids?" asked Black, now standing upright but somehow still remaining on the ceiling.

"Like this," said Blue, showing Black a picture. Red had to squint. Apparently Black had no problems seeing that, since they just went back to hissing at Red. Oh boy. Maybe that was their true form or something.

"Look, look," Red said in a hopefully appeasing tone. "We don't eat imposters, and you could skewer us with your tongue anyway. It's like… these are prey, we hunt them for food. Right?"

Black had stopped hissing. "Like how I hunt Loragmions?"

"Sure?"

"Oh." Black sat down, still hanging upside down. "It's just… we're the only creatures we know of with tentacles. How do I know squid isn't some other human word for imposter? They look like our hatchlings!"

"If it was we'd have just as many dead imposters on board the ship as crewmates," Red said. They regretted it immediately, but Black actually laughed.

"Yeah, you're right, you're right." Black curled their tentacle arm thing around their torso. "Sorry."

"I'm sorry, too." Red awkwardly stood on tiptoe, trying to reach Black, and when that didn't work, jumped up to pat Black on the shoulder. "Man, I wasn't thinking when I said that, huh?"

"You were not," Lime offered helpfully, and Red glowered at them.

Yellow clapped their hands together. "Let's make up, then we can watch more of Blue's romcoms," they called, to half the room's groans and the other half's cheers.


	4. Chapter 4

Black was dozing in the vents underneath the ship, when their alien ears suddenly picked up soft twanging and what sounded like a soft, calm relaxing melody. Black perked their head up, wondering what it was. They had never heard anything like that before. They slinked through the vents, taking twists and turns before they finally arrived beneath White’s room.

“White?” Black asked as they emerged. Something wooden clattered onto the floor as White reared back in fright.

“ _Black_! Don’t just jump out of the vents like that! Give me some warning next time, you’re going to give me a heart attack someday,” White scolded them, placing a hand over their chest.

“Sorry,” Black muttered, wanting to curl in on themself. “I just heard something new coming from your room.”

“Oh? You mean this?” White picked up the wooden object on the ground. “This is a guitar. I was playing it.” To demonstrate, they strummed the strange strings on it using something in their hands, and Black heard that same sound again. Black crept closer and put their hands on the ‘guitar’.

“It’s a musical instrument,” White continued. “It makes… well… music.”

“Kind of like when you bang sticks together?” Black asked, inspecting the instrument further. “I used to do that for fun, then I realised I could bang sticks _and_ rocks together.”

“How would you even do that… oh right, I suppose you have infinite arms.”

“Yes. But we’ve never had any instrument this sophisticated on our planet.” Black picked up the guitar, and White allowed them to. They held it up to their eyes, inspecting the metal pieces that ran the length of the stick like part, before tilting the thing downwards to stare at the six knobs that stood ready at the head. Black twisted one of them, curious to see how far it would go.

“Black, no,” said White in an admonishing tone, snatching the guitar back from Black before they could deal any more damage. “It’s gone all out of tune now, I have to fix this.”

“Out of tune?” Black asked. White, unamused, gave the string a pluck. Now it sounded far too high pitched, enough that Black hissed involuntarily at the almost painful vibrations. “Sorry.”

White softened. “Okay, Black, you just sit there while I tune this and then I can show you how to play a guitar, okay? Would you like that?”

“Yes!” Obediently, Black sat down, over the vent no less. 

They watched as White took a weird black object on their desk and clipped it to the head. Slowly, the strings returned to their normal sound. As promised, White went over to Black. Bending down, they slipped the guitar into Black’s lap. “Are you right or left handed or is that a moot point for you?” asked White, grabbing Black’s left hand and placing it over their lap. “I’m just checking, because this is a left-handed guitar.”

“What’s right-handed?” asked Black, playing with the strings.

“Humans tend to have a dominant hand,” White explained. “Mostly it’s the right hand. Only about a tenth have their dominant hand as their left, and even rarer than that is having both hands be dominant.”

“That sounds like a species wide disability.”

“I knew it wouldn't matter, lucky you,” White muttered, mostly to themself. “Try writing, using can openers, even some drinking fountains…”

“What are those?”

“I’ll tell you another time,” White promised. Finally, they sat down next to Black and guided their right hand onto the frets. “When you press down here,” said White, pressing Black’s index finger on the thickest string as guidance, “it changes the sound here.” White plucked the string, and to Black’s astonishment, it sounded higher.

“Wow, that’s amazing!” Black was about to pluck the string again when White motioned for them to halt. They slipped a strange plastic triangular object into Black’s palm. 

“Hold it like this.” White had one of their own, and Black tried to copy their position. Fumbling with the strings again, Black gave a satisfied purr as they succeeded. 

White fell silent now, nodding and motioning for Black to continue freestyling if they wanted to. Black glanced at White and back at the guitar before strumming as hard as they could, right hand repeatedly scaling up and down the frets.

“Holy shit, White, stop!” Pink finally yelled from next door. “I said I was sorry I clogged the toilets!”

“It’s Black, not me!” White yelled back over the diminishing cacophony as Black grinned sheepishly and stopped playing.

“Yeah, White actually plays good music,” Lime called, their voice softer than Pink’s.

“Oh.” Pink sounded embarrassed now. “Uh, Black, no offence, please stop.”

“Yeah, like, I wanted to eject myself off the ship,” Lime yelled again.

“They just started, Lime!” Pink yelled back.

“Well, they should have kept it down at least!”

“It could be worse! It could have been electric!” White pointed out.

“Alright, I can’t take this civil war any longer,” Pink declared, marching into view and grabbing White’s guitar. “Alright, how do you…” they flipped it in the opposite direction. “White, why’s your guitar stringed backwards?”

“I’m left-handed,” White said in a long-suffering tone.

“My condolences.” Pink smiled and flipped it back, handing it to Black again. “Okay, Black, I can’t play so I’ll just be watching you. Just so you don’t try to make Lime’s eardrums bleed, okay? White, teach them some chords.”

“Good idea.” White guided Black’s fingers to the frets again. “This one is C.” They strummed all six strings and Black was amazed at how the notes blended together seamlessly. “A. G. E. D.” White continued. “Here, you try.”

Black stared hard at the frets, pressing on the strings and doing their best to emulate White. White moved closer to Pink, who asked, “Man, HQ is really gonna get a kick out of this.”

“I know, I know,” White chuckled. “They were so confused when I asked them how to care for an imposter, and now we taught Black how to play an instrument. They’re going to explode.”

“The next time you call them you should record the whole meeting,” said Pink, laughing.

“Indeed.” White smiled as Black dropped the pick into the vents. Giving a small ‘mrrr’ of annoyance, they were reaching for it with one arm. “Perhaps I will.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> White plays the guitar left-handed because I play bass left-handed. I kept mixing up left and right for way too long before I just called it quits.


	5. Chapter 5

Lime walked into the bunks that evening. They spotted Black curled up on Yellow’s bed. Yellow was reading a book to them, probably done with their tasks for the day. Black peered curiously at the pictures. From here, Lime could make out a picture of a winged horse.

“Earth has such unique fauna,” Black observed.

“No, no, they don’t really exist,” Yellow said kindly. “This is a book of mythical creatures. My dad gave them to me, because I was so obsessed with fantasy when I was younger.”

“Humans package lies in tomes and give them as presents?”

Yellow caught Lime’s eye before they nodded at Black. “Uh, it sounds weird if you put it that way, but I guess so?”

“Do your kind not have stories?” Lime asked, taking their look as permission to cross over and sit on Yellow’s bed. Yellow placed the book in the middle of the three of them, allowing Lime to look at the well-worn pages. Apparently, younger Yellow had left a pink sticky note on the page depicting majestic pegasi reading, “Cooler Unicorn???”

“My favorite animal is the dragon,” Black said idly before they realised Lime had asked them a question. “Well, our stories are mostly about how the big strong imposter catches their tiny weak prey. Ego boosters, you know the like. Lots of blood and stuff.”

“So you guys don’t have like, animal people with wings?” Lime asked.

“I can have wings right now if you want.” Black instantly formed leathery, bat-like wings at the junction of their shoulders with a single thought.

“That is so not what I meant.” Lime grinned anyway and started playing with the wings. “But this is super cool anyway.”

“Maybe as shapeshifters we don’t feel the need to make up funny creatures like you humans,” Black theorised. “But how does this look?”

“Pretty cool, actually,” said Yellow. “Hold on, let me take a photo.” They rummaged around in their bag for their phone.

Lime looked Black’s new form over. “Any limits on what you can shapeshift into?” They wondered out loud as Yellow guided Black verbally on the pose they wanted.

“As long as I’ve seen it before, I can practice, and then I can assume that form, or whatever parts I want,” Black answered.

“So you don’t actually need clothes?”

“Humans are the only creatures I’ve ever seen who do wear clothes. Who’s the weird one now?”

“We were too intelligent for our own good,” Lime rolled their eyes as Yellow put their phone away. “Developed the concept of nudity and shame.”

“We also developed the concept of showers,” said Yellow, teasingly. “Has to beat being drenched in your own saliva all the time.”

“Our saliva is clean!” Black protested.

White poked their head in at that point. “I don’t even want to know why you guys are talking about that, but it’s dinner time, come along now.”

“More sandwiches?” Lime asked.

“You know it.”

“All we have to eat is sandwiches, sandwiches, sandwiches,” Lime complained as the four trudged to the cafeteria. “I’m going to develop a sandwich allergy and then I’ll die from sandwiches. It’ll be written on my tombstone.”

“That doesn’t make any sense,” said Black. Lime groaned as Yellow and even White snickered. “Each sandwich has different ingredients between the two slices, which should account for enough variety in your omnivorous diet. You shouldn’t be able to get sick from it.”

“Black, do you understand what a joke is?”

“Jokes? Yes. We have those. But human humor?” said Black, confused. “Blue showed me some of a wolf dancing on a… piano, I think it was called? They were laughing but I didn’t really get it. But you weren’t showing me videos, Lime.”

White was rolling their eyes and Yellow was actually laughing. Lime patted Black’s shoulder. “My deepest condolences for your suffering and despair.” Black looked at them and just shrugged, accepting it.

“Hey guys,” Blue called out to the group as they joined them in the cafeteria. “Why were you taking so long?”

“Yellow was showing me weird pictures their dad gave them,” said Black, who was standing next to the window, staring at the sun. “Your kind give such fun gifts.”

“What’s your relationship with your family like, Black?” Yellow asked.

“I haven’t seen my broodmother in a few years,” said Black. “The parent who laid my egg and incubated it,” they explained, catching the crew’s confused looks. “Three of my parents took care of me while the last one hunted. Now I’m no longer a fledgling, I’m striking out on my own. Maybe I should visit.”

“Why do you have like five moms?” Blue asked, looking at their gloved hands they were using to count.

“Four. Mates stick together and share territory,” said Black, as if it was completely normal to them, and it probably was. “I might find a few and settle down someday… if after reconditioning they release me.”

White swallowed. “What happens during this ‘reconditioning’ exactly?”

“They might try to control my mind, or they might break me and make me the scum of society.” Black shook their head violently at the thought. “I don’t want to go, but I don’t want to harm any of you either. Especially not now. I’ve gotten to know you, you’re all so… nice to me. Even knowing what I am.”

“We can’t just treat you like a murderer when you’ve done nothing wrong,” Red said.

“I hear some have, so I was expecting the worst. On my home planet, we were told humans were judgemental and rather hateful, and to use that to our advantage to cause disagreements.” Black fidgeted. “Some, cowards like me, utilised that as a strategy to get all those innocent crew ejected without actually killing anyone. But most of our kind don’t think there’s glory in such victories.”

“But now that you don’t even want to cause that kind of disruption?” White asked.

“Well… I always was a bit of a pariah,” said Black, smiling ruefully at them. “Destroying friendships? An indirect kill? Still just as bad. It seems so cruel. I don’t really have any friends, and to take something like that away from the humans, even if it’s to stop invaders from tearing up our planet any further -”

Black stopped. Their eyes went wide, shoulders stiff, before they just turned to the table and raised a hand in warning. “Our species really doesn’t like showing weakness. If they knew I shared ours with you, we’d all be targets. Wait until you’re sure you can tell your HQ confidentially, please. Preferably in person.”

“Weakness?” White asked, taken aback. “How so? Wait, Black -”

Black shook their head helplessly. Their voice was low. “The humans came and took our resources, plants, and animals. Even some of us, hatchlings and eggs and a few adults by this ‘tranquiliser’. We had to retaliate.” Then they hesitated. “But all of you, personally, have done nothing wrong…”

The room was silent. “We didn’t know you were sapient,” said Red. It sounded empty.

“Even if we weren’t, was it really necessary to damage our ecosystem?” Black’s eyes flashed red beneath the helmet. “It was a fragile balance and now it might spiral out of control if any more spaceships were permitted to land! We’re all going to die if we don’t stop you!”

“The scientists didn’t think that amount would have been harmful,” Yellow said, though they sounded more thoughtful.

“What works on earth doesn’t always work in space. Their calculations were wrong,” Black said with a low hiss.

“But killing those people? For what? To send a message?” Lime finally challenged. “Was that necessary?”

Black was silent. “Exactly,” they said, suddenly tired. “It’s not. Violence really was the bosses’ first idea. We fight first and think later and look what it’s gotten us into.”

Suddenly Black’s humanoid form dissipated and black goop was slithering up the walls and into the garbage chute. The crewmates stared at it for seconds longer, lingering before deducing Black wasn’t going to comment any further on the matter. They turned back to their sandwiches, tasting staler than ever. 

Dinner was a solemn affair.


	6. Chapter 6

Black had not come out of the garbage chute for the entire day. Maybe it was just time being strange for a 142 year old (still young) alien, but the rest of the crew were getting worried.

It was Yellow who got voted to try to appease the imposter. Maybe not appease. Maybe pacify. Whatever else had happened, Black as an individual had done nothing wrong.

"Black?" Yellow called out, peering into the gloom. Black was cuddling a single leaf to their chest. "How are you feeling?" continued Yellow.

"Oh." Black looked up at them with glowing eyes. "Nobody really… asks that on my home planet. I think I'm just upset at all this."

"Yeah, so are the other crewmates," said Yellow. "We never knew. White's been itching to confront our superiors all day. Perhaps we can convince whoever's there once we reach Polus research outpost."

"That would be great." Black finally poked their head out of the chute. "I'm really not sure if our bosses would bother arranging talks, but I think if you stopped sending spaceships there they'd at least leave you alone. There's much tastier prey at home."

“Yes, maybe.” Yellow gave them a warm smile and extended their hand out in a gesture of peace. “But we don’t think it’s your fault, Black. You’re one of the good ones.” Then they paused. “Wait, I think that may have been offensive.”

“It’s okay.” Black took their hand and finally clambered out of the garbage chute. “How long is it before we reach Polus?” 

“Maybe three weeks from now?” Yellow wondered, holding up their fingers in a count. “Space travel time is weird, so it’s never very accurate. Still, we’re reaching there eventually. Do you think you’ll see any of your own kind?”

“Are there human researchers like you on Polus?”

“Yes. We’re meeting up with the others.” Yellow slowly ticked them off their still held up fingers. “Cyan, Green, Orange, and Purple. We’re being sent as such a large crew just so there’s safety in numbers.”

“It’s possible that one of them’s like me,” Black said reluctantly. “Maybe of my species or one of our allies.”

“But… no one’s died yet… it’s been months there for them.” Yellow tried to protest.

Black just shrugged at that, a gesture they had picked up from them. “It’s possible. If they’re there, I’ll be able to tell. Humans have this scent, your weird mannerisms that’s much different from imposters like us, though they might be using something to disguise them. I'll do my best to watch over you guys.”

“Black, they might kill you,” Yellow said, uncertain.

“I’ll see how it goes,” Black replied. “We don’t even know if there’s an alien in their midst, so you don’t need to worry until I do. Isn’t that right?”

Yellow was silent for a while, thinking over Black’s words. “Yeah, I guess we’ll have to trust you on this,” they finally said, forcing a smile. “You’ll be careful then?”

“I will.” Black petted Yellow on the shoulder. “I’m sure all of you will be too.”

Yellow gave them a smile as their conversation drifted away. They stood, staring at each other awkwardly, shifting side by side, until Yellow said, “Well, like White was saying, if you insist on us not calling our superiors, there’s nothing we can really do for this situation for now. Would you like to play some games to pass the time?”

Black turned over the question in their mind for a few moments before they finally nodded. “Might as well.”

Yellow steered Black all the way to her room. The rest of the crew were waiting there, talking amongst themselves in harsh whispers. Some were on their bed, while others were on the floor or even standing due to lack of room. The conversation died down as Black entered with Yellow just behind them. Everyone turned around, seemingly at a loss for words.

Finally, White stood up and took a few steps forward. “Well, we can’t promise whatever’s happening will stop,” they said sadly. “But you’ve proven yourself to be trustworthy. We won’t abandon you.”

“Yeah, dude, we can spend what time we have together for now,” Blue added.

“It doesn’t matter if you think you’re a weirdo in your own society.” Brown nodded. “We’re your friends, so that’s gotta count for something.”

Pink didn’t say anything, but ran forward and hugged Black. Black flinched, expecting it to be some sort of suffocation play-attack. When nothing happened, they awkwardly tried to copy what Pink was doing with their own arms. Red went around them and petted Black on their head.

“Hey, Black. We can play Werewolf,” Lime suggested, holding up some cards. “It’ll be a great friendship activity or something.”

“Oh, stop trying to get Black to fake-eat us all.” Brown leaned over to flick Lime’s helmet. 

Lime grinned at Brown. “Don’t tell me you wouldn’t be into it.”

“Hey!” Brown punched their shoulder playfully. “But I know you’d just assign Black to be the werewolf anyway. That completely defeats the purpose of the game!”

Pink stepped away to dissolve the fight. Yellow passed by Black, giving them a nod and signalling for them to join the crew circle. After some hesitation, Black stepped forward, easing themself into the middle. This felt… nice. It was like that _something_ they had been missing had finally been smoothed over. 

For now, it was just Black and this funky little space crew, all together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly, I’m unsure how to continue, or even if to continue. While I meant for this fic to be a pure fluffy slice of life, it seems you guys want more plot. Since that’s not my forte, I’ll have to consider how to proceed. 
> 
> Still, this started as a oneshot that grew legs and ran away. I’m really thankful to all of your support that helped me through writing this!
> 
> Edit that will probably be posted whenever a new chapter comes out: I've considered what you guys have told me and I think what I'm gonna do is stick to slice of life and address the impostor plot stuff when necessary, like how I've done it so far. Thank you for sharing your opinions with me.


	7. Chapter 7

The next day, everyone noticed Black kept to themself a little more, and was just ever so slightly more quiet. They were feeling awkward, of course, that would have been a huge bomb to drop on anyone. After a while, though, Black noticed that the crewmates were making an effort not to treat them any differently than they had before, and they tried to set their awkwardness aside for now. They needed to know their kindness and patience was working after all. 

Perhaps it would be simpler to just forget about everything for a while, the whole weird war situation they had gotten themselves into. Black took a deep breath and breathed it all out slowly. They had spent three weeks with these crewmates, Black knew they were okay, so why were they feeling shy all of a sudden?

For some reason, they felt like they had to make it up to them somehow, but with what and for what Black drew a mental blank. They were in the vents, hugging their tentacles to themself and just staring up. Waiting for someone, maybe, but who?

Black thought on it a little while longer before they took a vent to the cafeteria. Seeing no one, they entered the kitchen. It had to be almost seven in the morning by now, right? That was when the crew usually woke up to have an early morning breakfast, then spend the rest of the day doing their tasks. 

Maybe Black could join them next time on their task rounds, the crew would probably like that. For now, Black opened the fridge, took a single piece of raw ham from the freezer, and engulfed it whole with the mouth on their torso. They couldn’t take too much, the crew probably couldn’t survive on light like Black did, and although Black was starting to crave something more, they could hold off on their hunger for a while longer. 

Maybe at Polus they could find some prey to eat.

At that thought, Black stood there with their grip on the fridge’s handle hardening. Did the Polus crew even know there was an impostor on board the Skeld? Probably, if White had called their headquarters. They’d have to have sent a notice at least.

How would the Polus crew react to Black, then? Hopefully they’d be as friendly as the Skeld crew. The ones like Brown and Lime, anyway. Some of them, like Red and White, had taken a while to be comfortable with Black, though that was probably justified since Black could tear them all in half if they wanted to. And even then White was kind of serious and gruff most of the time. No surprises there.

But, well, Black didn’t want to cause a division amongst the humans because of the imposter in their midst. And that wasn’t even covering the possibility of one of the Polus crew being an imposter themselves. On one hand, Black would be thrilled to finally see someone of their own race again. On the other hand, there was the slight problem of perhaps they would kill everyone. Man.

Having had enough of this mental battle, Black, clutched their head and leaned over the counter briefly. 

“Hey, Black, buddy, you okay?”

Black looked up at the sound to see that it was Lime and Brown that had entered the kitchen together. They detected the undercurrent of concern in Brown’s voice.

“Do you want something to eat?” Lime suggested. “I’m kinda crap at helping people, let alone aliens, but I figure food’s universal therapy.”

“I already ate,” Black answered truthfully.

“Ate what?” Brown pressed them.

“The sunlight.”

“And…?”

Black chuckled sheepishly. “Er, one piece of ham.”

“Did you eat that _raw_?” Brown’s head snapped towards the fridge at a startling speed.

“You don’t eat meat raw?” Black asked, genuinely baffled.

“I mean, there’s raw stuff we eat like what Red was saying. Sashimi in sushi, for example.” Lime shrugged, pulled out yet more bread, and got to buttering up the slices for everybody that would soon follow. “But it needs to be specially prepared. And I don’t think ham’s usually eaten raw.”

“We’re getting off topic here!” Brown jumped in. “Black, you mean to say sunlight alone really is that nourishing?”

Black paused and thought about how best to not Brown worry about them. “There’s still the ship lights. I mean, I guess it does fine, but I have been eating your meat.”

“You should join us at the table and we can make more ham for you,” said Lime, waving the butter knife around. Brown grabbed their arm and gently angled it downwards at the proper targets.

“It’s okay. I think you guys need it more than I do. I know these are rations.” Black went over and picked up a knife similar to what Lime was holding. “Is this some kind of bread weapon?”

“No, but that is.” Lime pointed over at the metal contraption on the counter with a note on it reading ‘the toaster is broken af do not use’. Brown laughed.

“Teach me how to use it,” said Black, examining the knife, now holding it at eye level.

“Certainly. I will be doing the teaching,” said Brown, snatching the knife out of Lime’s hand. Lime grinned good-naturedly and simply went to dig around in the fridge some more. 

Amidst Lime’s complaining of the ever-decreasing supply of microwave popcorn, Brown picked Black’s hand up. Sticking it in the butter chunk next to them, Brown guided Black on the right amount of pressure needed to spread the butter over the slice. 

“Good job,” said Brown, just as Lime called, “Guys, am I using the microwave right?”

Brown and Black went over. “No, you moron, you forgot to take off the plastic wrap,” Brown chastised. Black was surprised to see Brown slap Lime’s head. It was weak, obviously a gesture of affection. Humans sure liked to play fight almost as much as imposters.

“Actually, guys, I’m the imposter and I have been trying to poison the crew with my terrible cooking skills this whole time.”

“Black, we need to throw Lime out the airlock,” Brown said, laughing.

“This is… a joke, right?”

“Yes. Do not throw me out there, I’ll die faster than I can fix the wires in electrical,” Lime said quickly, going back to their work of peeling the wrap off the ham.

Brown shook their head and smiled at Black. “Maybe you can go wake the others up while I supervise this idiot here.”

“Sure.” Black turned and let the kitchen behind. Now Lime seemed to be getting yelled at for trying to turn on an unplugged microwave. 

To be honest, that had lifted their spirits. Perhaps Black had just been on edge because they didn’t know how to communicate. But maybe the solution was just to ease themself back into normalcy of life on board the Skeld. Well, if the crew was putting in effort, Black would try their best.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow guys thank you for 900 kudos and 240 subs!
> 
> Also man, like, I recently learned from tagging my other fic that it's impostOr sorry lol. I'll probably go back and edit everything properly when I have time.

"Black, have you ever thought about shapeshifting into something other than that astronaut suit?"

Black turned to look at Blue, giving them a look of confusion. They held a fork in one hand, prodding at the ham on their plate. White had been persuaded to give more food to the impostor after all, reasoning being the rest of the crew could survive on the other types of rations.

"Clothes," said Blue, realising that Black had no idea what they were talking about.

"You mean you don't all look like this?" Black asked, reaching forward and pulling on Blue's glove. Unlike Black's hands, this was real plastic, and it felt cool to the touch. Black's body was simply mimicking the appearance and texture of an astronaut suit, and getting close enough to touch their 'skin' gave it away. Another useful impostor catching tool in MIRA's kit. Well, maybe not provided other impostors might just bite a crewmate's hand off, but still.

"We have to wear this inside the space shuttle because we don't usually live in this sort of environment," Blue explained, finishing their egg sandwich. "Back home we have fashion, we have trends. It's cool. Want to see?"

Curious, Black nodded.

Blue put their plate away before they leaned forward on the cafeteria table, allowing Black to look at the images on their phone. There was an image where the human was wearing pretty much nothing except fabric at where Black assumed were their privates. The backdrop looked like sand on their planet, but the scenery was a relaxing blue. Yet when Blue swiped it Black noticed the scenery had changed. Now white powder fell around the human, who was now all bundled up in what looked like brown furs.

"You humans seem to vary up your clothes a lot," Black observed. "Are those because of the trends you're talking about?"

"Well, in a sense, yes. The ones you see here now are because of the seasons changing on earth. There's summer, winter, autumn, and spring," Blue explained. "When it's hot we wear less and vice versa."

"Oh, that's quite smart for a non-shapeshifting species." Black nodded.

"Yeah, and trends are more like, you know, what looks good on top of the practical outfits we need to have." Blue showed Black another picture. This one was of a human wearing a long sleeved pullover thing and a short trapezoid frilly shape around their hips and thighs. Black leaned forward, trying to discern if the white of their legs was yet more 'clothing' or some subspecies of humans just tended to have white legs.

"It's also a way to express ourselves," Blue explained upon catching on to Black's confusion. "You know, so that's why I was wondering if you'd like to change up your look a little, not just look like that old dusty space suit all the time."

"Ah, okay. It's like… some days I just feel like turning my scales a different colour." Black nodded. "But, you know, I'm not too confident in my ability to mimic any clothes that I've never seen before. Maybe if I acquired more samples?"

"Aw, yes, I can show you some!" Blue exclaimed, clapping their hands together. "You'd look so cute."

"You think so?" Black asked with an embarrassed chuckle.

"Well, you can shapeshift, either you look cute or you're looking scary on purpose."

"I guess you're right." Black shrugged. "I told Lime humans wearing fabric was weird, but I think I understand now."

"What else did they tell you about?" Blue asked, curious. Lime didn't seem the type of guy to educate. Mostly Lime was laidback and prone to a bad sense of humor. 

"Lime didn't really say anything, it was mostly Yellow," Black tried to recall. Tapping their hand on the table rhythmically, they continued, "They were talking about how you humans dressed up in costumes because you couldn't shapeshift."

Blue laughed. "Yes, but it's also dependent on our traditions. Different cultures on earth have their different clothes. Like, kind of from different time periods, and what they find acceptable and all that."

"Like different tribes of my kind?" Black asked. "I think my species as a whole only exists on one continent on our planet but I've met some far removed sub-species cousins from the west. They're really, really screwed up."

Blue snorted, then tried to stifle their giggle. "Screwed up how?"

"They eat plants," Black said flatly. They hissed slightly when Blue started laughing, doubled over. "Oh come on, is it really that funny?"

"Hearing you out of all of us here be snarky is so jarring that yes, it absolutely is," Blue said amidst their giggles while they tried to stop laughing. Mostly for Black's benefit, who just looked a little put off. "Like, your species is so scary, you're an absolute sweetheart and now you're not. Really shows you've got that bite in you."

"I don't even know what you're talking about," said Black, sighing and closing their eyes. They chewed on the last of their ham pieces. "Of course I've got the bite or whatever, I have teeth and two sets of jaws."

"It's an expression," Blue let out amidst more giggles. "Okay, nevermind, nevermind," they said hastily, as Black was smiling in that self-deprecating fashion again.

"You humans have strange fashion and now you have strange humor," sighed Black, stretching their back and then taking their plate off to the sink to be washed. "You know I don't eat plant matter, it's just such a weird thing for me, okay? How would you feel if a subspecies of humans… didn't wear clothes?"

"We don't always, Black," said Blue, laughing even harder as they saw the look of absolute confusion on Black's face. "We need to shower, change, all that."

"...huh," said Black, scratching their head. "Well, that's interesting."

"It's a lot to take in, isn't it?" Blue asked, grinning. 

"Humans are certainly diverse in their ways," said Black, shrugging as they washed their hands. "I'll stay in my space suit for now then. Gives me a sense of normalcy."

"You know what? Valid."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Black is around 16 in human years. So although they're rather soft-hearted and curious about the world around them, they can also be sarcastic if they want to be. Teenagers.


	9. Chapter 9

"White, where are the hats?"

Black and White paused in their little guitar tutoring session in White's bunk. White stared at the offending intruder, a rather incensed Lime.

"Hats?" White asked, confused.

"You've been hiding them from us," Lime complained, stepping forward. White looked rather displeased as they got on their knees and checked under White's bed. "Yesterday Pink and I were up rereading MIRA brochures and ads because why not, and I realised something - where are the complimentary _hats_ , White? That's like half the reason I took this job!"

Recognition finally flickered in White's eyes. "Oh, those silly things? They're all in a bucket in the bathroom cabinets somewhere."

"I knew it! You _were_ hiding them from us!"

"No, none of you have thought to ask before now is all," White sighed. "Although they _are_ rather ridiculous. I wouldn't object to nobody wearing any of those so-called accessories on their head."

"Lalala, can't hear you," Lime called back. They were already gone, probably to tell Pink the good news.

"Hats?" Black questioned once Lime was out of sight.

White gave Black a long suffering smile. Hoisting their guitar out of the way, they replied, "Come on now, why don't you go take a look?"

Honestly, Black wasn't in the bathroom that much. It amazed them how humans needed to go so often. But they were headed there now with White keeping them company. On the way there, Lime and Pink ran past them, cheering and hollering with a gigantic basket of...items balanced precariously between the two of them. Black saw more of those 'leaves', some fabrics like Blue had introduced to them, and even a mini astronaut likeness.

"We've got the pirate's booty!" Pink was laughing as they raced to the cafeteria. "Come on guys, get out here now!"

"The apocalypse has started," White remarked, though their exasperation was clearly good-natured and their smile made their eyes crinkle at the corners.

The rest of the crew were gathered when White and Black trailed into the cafeteria after Pink and Lime. Blue had already fixed a pink flower on top of their helmet, gushing over it. "I'm going to name it Polly."

"Who names flowers? That's weird," Lime remarked with no heat in their words. "You can take that lame thing and I'll be wearing _this._ " With a flourish, Lime lifted up a strange mask with holes in it.

"You're not going to be able to see if you put that on your helmet, Lime," Brown chastised gently.

"Then I'll wear this to sleep, problem solved!" Lime grinned and picked up a knife. Black could tell it was a prop from the way light didn't reflect along the 'metal'. "I'll put this on my head too," Lime said, trying to do just that without a mirror.

"Company policy is one hat per astronaut," White reminded Lime.

"And you're not gonna snitch, are you?" Lime retorted.

"Well, no." White rolled their eyes and smiled. "You can have my hat slot."

"You can't just give it up like that. You need these," Yellow teased, holding up some bushy eyebrows.

"I'm not _that_ old!"

Amidst all the confusion, Black had crept forward towards the mystery basket. They knelt down, placing both hands on the rim. Many, many, scattered objects lay inside in a rainbow of colours.

"Hey, Black, you want one?" Red asked, lowering themself to Black's eye level. "Come on, it'll be fun." Even Red had given into the hat craze. A mini Red sat on top of their head, and they were obviously positioning their head very carefully to avoid it falling over.

"I'm… not sure which one to pick," Black admitted, looking over the pile with some trepidation. "There's so many things, and I don't even know what half of these are."

"Ah, you need help, then?" Red leaned over the basket, scanning the still available items. They dug through the pile, eyes always flicking back to Black. "What would suit you, I wonder," Red whispered to themself, before their eyes went wide and they grinned. "Aha!" Red yelled triumphantly, pulling a… a strange u-shaped thing with two triangular appendages on it.

Black squinted. "What's this supposed to be?"

"Ooh! Cat ears!" Blue squealed, clapping their hands together. "Come on, Black, put this on!"

"Okay?" Slightly confused by everyone's enthusiasm, Black bent their head and allowed Red to place the 'cat ears' on their head. It felt kind of tight, like it was pressing against their skull. Humans liked wearing these?

"Quick, don't move," Yellow hissed, "I'm gonna take a picture." They grabbed their phone and took a snapshot in an instant.

"Good one, Red, it really fits," Pink said excitedly. "Black, say meow! Oh, oh, and do the hands like this!" To demonstrate, Pink lifted their arms and curled their hands into balls.

"Why?" Black asked, confused. To think that humans even had rituals with the clothes they wore.

"They're planning to make you the crew pet, Black," said White, shaking their head in amusement. "Run while you still can."

"Not before you say meow," Pink said, laughing. "Come on, just once?"

Black eyed Yellow's phone that was almost certainly recording them. "M-meow," they said in a small voice.

"Hands," said Pink in a faux reprimanding tone.

Black tried again, balling their hands up into fists. "Meow," they said, louder this time, to a chorus of 'awww' from the crew.

"This is it, this will start peace between our planets," said Yellow, typing on their phone furiously. Black had learnt the humans had a 'group chat' on these strange devices. Which had always been weird to Black, given they could just walk to each other and start talking, but maybe it was some human culture thing.

Black blinked, taking the cat ears off. It was starting to feel uncomfortable.

"Aw, you didn't like that?" Red asked.

Black smiled awkwardly. "Ah, well, you know, human traditions, so unique."

"This isn't a tradition, really," Red replied, smiling as they checked their own phone for the video of Black. "Well, it's because you're so cute, really, we just can't help ourselves. Be thankful Pink isn't trying to glue these to your head."

"Can I?" Pink called from where they were sitting with Lime and Brown.

"I will scratch you," Black said flatly, but this just made Pink laugh more.

"Oh god, you really are a cat," Brown was giggling, head hidden in their hands. Lime was laughing too, but they at least had the decency to be quiet about it. The only indication was their trembling fingers as they adjusted a weird yellow brick full of holes on Brown's head.

"Red," Black said seriously, turning to the taller crewmate.

"Hmm?"

"What is a cat and how can I stop being one?"

Red just laughed and petted Black on the head, to their indignation and small hiss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shout out to all the 'CAT IMPOSTOR' comments in my inbox, this is for you


	10. Chapter 10

"Alright, Black, I think you've learned enough for today."

Black drew back, hands still outstretched. The wires behind the paneling in electrical were finally done, and they had done that! They looked at Yellow, letting out a pleased trill at the sight of their handiwork. It certainly didn't compare to the expert hands of Yellow, but it was functional and that was all that was needed, really.

Being with the crew for as long as they had now, Black had proposed the idea that perhaps they should help and not spend their days lounging about in the garbage chute doing nothing. So, today was the first trial run with Yellow at Black's side.

"Good job," Yellow said, smiling as they put a hand on their head.

"Why are all of you petting me like this now?" Black asked, a little annoyed.

"Cat vibes," Yellow answered, drawing back. "Okay, okay if you really hate it I promise I won't."

"It's not bad, just feels demeaning," Black grumbled. "I am not that fuzzy little creature. Imagine being entertained by such simple pleasures."

Yellow did not point out Black's odd fascination with the plant in the oxygen room. "You want to take a break for now?" they asked instead. "And then maybe Red can show you how we prime the ship's weapons."

"Do I get to fire them?"

"No." Yellow laughed. "Only Red does."

"That's not fun," Black grumbled.

"It also won't be fun if we blast a hole in our own ship," said Yellow with a 'tsk tsk'. "Come on, let's go find Blue and I can show you some virtual alternatives to that."

Black perked up at the suggestion instantly, nodding. Yellow turned and led the way to their quarters. Blue was lounging on their bed, apparently having finished everything in the med bay.

"Hey, Blue, Black wants to play some games on your tablet," Yellow said, getting Blue's attention. 

"They do?" Blue asked, scrambling upright. "How do they even know what those are?"

"Okay, fine, they don't," Yellow admitted. "More like I talked Black out of firing our actual ship lasers."

"Good call. Black, you're gonna get chewed out by Red later if they know about this, so let's just keep this a secret, okay?" Blue grabbed their tablet and poked at a few things on the large screen.

"Yeah, thanks." Black took a seat on the bed next to Blue, and Yellow followed suit. "What virtual lasers do you have?"

"Well, it's sort of a simulation run using computer programmes. Those are what games are, essentially. Okay, here's the touch screen," Blue said, giving the device to Black. Black tried to handle it with care when they received it. They tested it out with their human fingers, which thankfully the device responded to. Minute things like fingerprints were so hard to keep constant in their human forms.

"Look familiar?" Yellow asked, leaning over.

"This is a spaceship?" Black asked, pointing to the pixel mass that resembled a ship like the Skeld.

"Yup, correct."

"What are those?" Black pointed to the insectoid looking creatures at the top of the screen.

"Those are some species of aliens we made up." Blue waves their hand dismissively. "This is a classic arcade game. The aliens will move down on the screen. The objective is to drag your spaceship around and shoot all the aliens before they come down."

"Was this the best choice to show Black?" Yellow interjected.

"I thought it was fine… they barely look anything like Black," Blue said quietly, looking at the alien to gauge their reaction.

"Don't worry, it's okay. I hate bugs," Black quipped. They had started the game and were quickly learning the space ship shot at regular intervals. It was just a matter of proper positioning. It wasn't long before Black cleared the level.

"How was that?" Blue asked as they watched Black lift the tablet over their head triumphantly.

"I'll continue playing this as long as Red has any reason to yell at me," said Black cheerily. "I'm going to clear all ten levels in ten minutes! Then I'm going to play this again so I can beat your high score!"

"You can try," Blue challenged, "but I'm just saying, the drop ship had no wifi and I was bored as hell."

"Well, by right, I don't have any assigned tasks," Black pointed out. "Don't you have samples to analyse?"

"Not for a few more hours." Blue rolled their eyes good naturedly. "If you beat me, though, I'll just have to beat you again."

"Sure I can, just you wait!" Black grinned and turned back to Blue's tablet.

"Now, Blue, see what you've done? You've turned Black into a gamer," Yellow accused Blue jokingly. They watched as Black started playing the next level. Black frowned in concentration as they realised some of the pixel aliens were circling the field now.

"How's this any different from White turning Black into a guitarist?" Blue asked in a faux incredulous tone.

"It is very different," said Yellow seriously. "Guitar is a cultured hobby, and gaming destroys the brains of adolescents like Black."

"Well, I for one am glad the plague is spreading." Blue laughed in response. "If Black likes this one I can introduce them to first person shooters."

Yellow shook their head. "Black's going to end up becoming a streamer."

Blue shrugged. "You know, I bet they'd make it big."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I believe the game is called Space Invaders?


	11. Chapter 11

Black's scream rang across the entire ship.

"Close the door, close the door!" Brown chanted tensely, peering over Black's shoulder. "No wait no wait Black! Behind you!"

"How the hell am I supposed to -" Black launched into an unholy _screech_ as the animatronic on screen did the same, falling onto Lime at the same time.

'GAME OVER' was printed in large letters hauntingly on the screen. Black and Brown exchanged glances. Lime tried to elbow the heavy alien off them. Who for some reason had taken on a distinctly more reptilian form. With _wings_.

"What's going on in here?" White snapped, appearing at the door so suddenly the trio jumped in fright. Lime put on their best grin and Brown gave White an awkward thumbs up as White realised what they had been doing and their frown deepened. "Wait, are you guys _playing games_ using the security computers?"

"No," said Lime, at the same time Brown said sheepishly, "Yes?"

"Well, that's answer enough, I'd say. And Black, why are you a _dragon_?" White asked, disapproving gaze dropping to the dark scaly blob still huddling on top of Lime.

"Yellow's book said they were fierce and strong creatures," said Black, embarrassed, their voice rather deep now. "I wanted to scare that… bear thing."

"It's not real, Black, it's a game," Lime groaned. "And get off me, please, dragon you is so freaking heavy."

Black scrambled to obey, wrapping their wings around themself. "I-I know! It was just instinct -"

"Look, we're here on official business." White sighed and pressed their hand to their forehead. "I don't want to be the one to explain to headquarters why our computers got hacked by a virus, so just don't use _these_ computers, okay?"

"But there aren't any other computers in here," Lime pointed out.

"That's not really a pressing issue," White sighed, walking over the the monitor and sitting down at the chair. "How did you even get these games anyway?"

"Steam exists! I had a life back on earth!" Lime complained. "I just re-downloaded some for Black to play!"

"Glad to know you kids are all the same, no matter the species," White said, but this time they were vaguely amused. They started typing, and to Black's disappointment, deleted everything Lime had installed on the computer. "Run along and find someone else to bother," said White, gaze still fixed on the screen.

Sensing their captain's decision was final, the three of them scurried off. Black was back in human form, sheepishly rubbing at their arms.

"I heard some troublemakers got a scolding," called Blue's teasing voice from med bay. There was giggling, so there was someone else in there. Lime made a face as they walked by.

"Surely there's some non-electronic fun Black can have in here," Brown said with a thoughtful look, popping into the med bay.

"Get out!" Pink's voice yelled. "We're disinfecting everything in here!"

"Yeah, sorry, take Black to play elsewhere, okay?" Blue added.

Brown reappeared as they walked outside. Pink trailed them, looking curious. "What happened to your tasks?"

"All the cafe food is sorted out, the fuel has been refilled, and the garbage has been done with," said Brown with a sigh, stretching.

"Lime?" Blue asked.

"Today the reactor took twenty more minutes to start than usual," Lime complained. "But yes, everything in there's been handled. Oh, and Black, 'Planty' is healing finally, so stop stripping more leaves off it."

"I'm sorry again," Black said sheepishly. "I didn't realise the leaves were essential for its survival."

"Anyone else you haven't helped with their tasks yet, Black?" Blue asked, training their attention on the fidgeting alien. "Apart from us," they quickly added, seeing Black open their mouth.

Black paused to think it over. Red was done with weapons and shields. Yellow was done with electrical. Lime and Brown were equally as bored. Pink and Blue had made it clear that med bay tasks needed a higher skill level than Black possessed. 

That just left… White. Who had just chased Black out. What were they in charge of again? Communications and security, right.

"Do you think White might let me help?" Black asked quietly.

"Eh, worth a shot asking," said Lime, shrugging, backtracking to the security room. Black shot one last look at Blue and Pink, who were waving them off. Brown was waving, too, and headed in the direction of the cafeteria. Evidently they didn't want to mess with White any further, and Black couldn't say they blamed Brown.

They found White in the comms room.

"Hey, White, you got anything for Black to do?" Lime asked, leaning against the door.

White jerked back, looking over their shoulder to where Lime and Black were standing. They looked back and forth between Black and the computer monitor before they said to whoever was there, "Hang on just a moment, the impostor, Black, is visiting along with Lime."

White walked over to Black, asking them in a whisper, "My superiors have been asking about you for a while. Would you like to meet them and answer their questions?"

"Nothing about the… war, right?" Black asked quietly, looking past White at the monitors where two humans sat.

"No, unless you want me to. You said you'd like for me to tell them in person?"

"Well, yeah." Black fidgeted. "What will they ask me, then?"

"I've taken care of the official business and political talk to the best of my abilities. So, now, I think they just want to get to know you," said White, placing their hand on Black's shoulder. "You don't have to meet them, of course. It's entirely up to you."

It did seem rather stressful to Black to suddenly be put in the spotlight like that. But the humans were… curious about them? Black supposed they understood why, given that for the past month or so they had been doing their best to understand humans in turn. They looked at Lime out of the corner of their eye, who was nodding encouragingly, and that solidified Black's decision.

"Well, let me just… see how this goes," Black said apprehensively, striding past White. Curiosity overtook them as they awkwardly hid their body behind the large seat, peeking out at the humans behind the screen.

"Oh, it talks," was the first thing one of them said. This human was wearing a yellow plasticky suit.

"Of course it talks, the impostors wouldn't be able to infiltrate so many ships without at least being on our level of intelligence," scoffed the other human. This one was wearing a padded red accessory over their ears, and they were wearing a bright green vest. Black wondered what these outfits signified.

"They," White corrected their superiors, suddenly appearing behind Black.

"Yes, of course," said Green-Red Human, coughing a little. "Anyway, so… Black, is it? How do you like it on board the Skeld so far?"

White motioned to the seat, but Black shook their head. Hiding behind it was giving them a sense of security somehow. So, Black didn't think much of it when White sat down instead, but at an angle so Black's face wasn't obscured. "It's… interesting," Black replied. "I haven't seen anything like it before on my planet." They didn't know these humans, but something about them exuded power, and Black really didn't want to make a bad impression. At least they were being civil?

"Ah, yes, and to our understanding the crew have been… entertaining you?" The way Green-Red Human said it made it sound like Black was forcing the crewmates to do that against their will. A bitter reminder of the hostility that existed between their races.

"They've been very accommodating," said Black, willing themself not to shrink back and admit defeat. That was what their parents had always told them, right? "I've learnt so much about your culture and traditions. It's really unique."

"Yes, I'm quite glad we agree," said Green-Red Human, eyeing their partner, who was just nodding along with everything Black said. "For example, White, you were saying Black has managed to pick up the guitar from you?"

"Yes, Black is very studious," said White, giving Black an amused smile. "More patient than most kids their age."

"And what about your friend behind you?" Green-Red Human squinted and leaned forward. "Is that Lime?"

"Black's been great, boss!" Lime yelled back. "The only thing they've been attacking is our poor Planty the potted plant!"

"The... plant?" Yellow-Orange Human startled. "Oh dear."

"It's nothing serious, Black just likes to chew on the leaves a lot." White shrugged. "Over the past few days they've been made the crew pet as we discover more and more about impostor behaviour."

"I'm not a pet," Black grumbled.

"I agree, but I've been outvoted by everyone else," White said sympathetically, but Black wasn't sure how sincere they were even being. Because even White was trying not to laugh at Black's annoyance.

Lime joined Black then, waving to their bosses behind the chair. "Black's been very good! They even helped me in the reactor today!"

"You're… showing it how to mess with the reactor?" Green-Red Human asked incredulously. 

Black stiffened. And there it was. That distrust simmering below the surface. With the acceptance of the crew, they had managed to forget about the tension for a moment. Black had allowed themself to lower their guard in front of these humans. Black couldn't blame them entirely, but they couldn't help the resentment that was spreading through their veins at this moment.

"There's no way Black would attempt to attack any of us at this point," White pointed out, catching onto the silent fight about to break out. "They've shared so much about themself, including their weaknesses. If a murder _should_ happen, the rest of the crew would definitely toss Black out the airlock."

"And yes, I _would_ die out there," said Black exasperatedly upon seeing the doubt in the other humans' faces. "I'm glad you think so highly of my species, but that's just unrealistic."

"Hm." The humans onscreen turned to each other and shrugged. "Well, I suppose that settles the uncertainty," said Green-Red Human with pursed lips.

"Yes, Black, you've been very helpful." Yellow-Orange Human gave a shaky laugh. "So, um, go and do whatever it is you impostors do for fun -"

"The same thing _the crew_ will be doing," Black said with a small hiss. 

"Yes, um, lovely, just go do that, goodbye now, good job on taking care of everything on board, White," Green-Red Human said in an increasingly panicked tone. They slammed a button offscreen and the connection was terminated instantly. 

Black was left staring at a blank screen, along with White and Lime.

"Oh, Black, I'm sorry," said White with a frown on their face. "I explained the situation to them, and I thought they were turning around. They were starting to ask more thoughtful questions and they seemed interested. I thought they would be able to look past your species and see you as an individual, but apparently not. I'm sorry you had to go through that."

"It's okay," Black grit out between their now sharp teeth.

"Is it?" Lime challenged Black. "I wasn't even you and I felt that blatant disrespect just _oozing_ down my back."

"Yeah, I felt that. They just don't see me as an individual. They think I'm some sort of mindless killing machine," said Black bitterly, letting out a sigh. Standing up, they gave a half-hearted stretch of their limbs. "I get it, I guess. I'd be wary too if someone kept killing us on purpose. But I can't help being upset over it..." 

"Yes, that's understandable," said White gently. They reached out and awkwardly placed an arm around Black's shoulders. "Do you want to talk about it, or do you want to go blow off some steam?"

"I think I kinda talked about it a few days ago. I'm just venting now," said Black with an uneasy smile. "So… relaxing time, maybe? It'll be nice to take my mind off this for a while."

"Sure, what would you like to do?" Lime asked, joining in and giving Black a thumb up.

"Can I play the scary robot game on _this_ computer?" Black asked hopefully, pointing at the empty screen.

White's face was stern. " _No._ "

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some plot crept in again.
> 
> Also, I've included some reader requests in this chapter. I hope you like them!


	12. Chapter 12

"I can't believe they did Black dirty like that," Red was saying in anger, ripping open their food package using greater force than was necessary.

"Oh boo hoo hoo, Black is upset we're destroying their planet but still refuses to kill us, how monstrous," Lime agreed, stabbing their fork into their ham.

"It's real wise of them to disrespect someone who could tear them apart, ain't it?" Blue pointed out, shaking their head. "We'll see if they're still so high and mighty when they're in the same room as Black."

"You have to admit it took you guys some time to come round," Black said, still unwilling to demonise the MIRA employees.

"Yes, but we've never seen you as… just an animal," White replied stubbornly. "It was because you were so intelligent we were afraid of what you could do. The higher ups should really take that into consideration." Then White paused. "Uh, no offence."

"None taken," Black replied immediately.

"Black, you're so non-combative," Brown said then, frowning a little. "I get you're hesitant about killing, but shouldn't you start standing up for yourself?"

"They did, actually," said Lime proudly, as though it had been them who had done so. "Sassed those two so hard they panicked and turned off the comms."

"Ah, sorry, my mistake," Brown said, nodding in respect to Black.

Black gave a little smile back and shrugged. "It's just… I don't really see the point in making them even angrier at me. Better take the high road."

"I guess that makes sense," Lime said, albeit rather reluctantly. "Still, though, you gotta take it out on something before it all gets too much."

"Are you sure you're not projecting, Lime?" Black finally asked, raising an eyebrow.

Lime lifted up their hands in surrender. "Hey, kicking things when you're angry is a healthy coping mechanism. And you didn't hear that from me."

"Hey, Lime's got the right idea," Red said, amused. "Kids, after this, come with me to weapons."

"Oh no. You're not doing what I think you're doing." White narrowed their eyes.

"Oh yes I am," said Red, grinning, "and as second oldest and vice-captain I therefore authorise everyone to take turns shooting at the asteroids."

"That's not even a position on this crew," said White, but they simply waved their hand around dismissively. "But if MIRA asks, I didn't see or hear anything. My senses are oh so rusty."

"Asteroids!" Blue cheered, downing their sandwich in one gulp and running straight to the weapons room. Yellow and Pink simply shook their head with a sympathetic smile as Red turned their questioning gaze to them. Lime and Brown looked at each other before sliding their plate over to White with a pleading grin.

"It's good to know you only respect your seniors when you want something in return," said White jokingly, accepting the offering.

Black barely had time to gulp down their final piece of meat before Lime was dragging them along at breakneck speed. "Come on, finally some real entertainment!" Lime was saying to Black, eyes twinkling. "Hurry up, mass of alien goop."

"I'm in human form right now. You're calling yourself goop," said Black with a sigh as everyone interested entered the weapons room. Then Black let out a small yelp as Red swooped in and sat Black down in the chair.

"Okay, you see those things in our path?" Red was saying, pointing to the floating space rocks on the green screen. "I've calibrated everything for you. All you need to do is pretend they're those snobby higher ups and shoot them, see?"

"Is… is this allowed?" Black asked, excited but still a little confused.

"Oh, so you _don't_ want to shoot the asteroids?" 

"Yes, I do!" 

"It's alright with me here guiding you," said Red, placing their gloved hand on Black's shapeshifted one. "And with those idiots at the back yelling at you."

"Hey! We're being Black's _cheerleaders_!" Blue protested. Sadly, they were drowned out by Lime and Brown's screams of "Go Black go!"

Suddenly overcome with a bout of nervousness, Black gulped and turned their attention to the screen.

"Pull the lever like this to aim," said Red gently, demonstrating for Black. "You see an asteroid in the middle? Great. Press your thumb down on this button."

Black followed Red's instructions, surprised when the chair jerked back and the turrets at the front of the ship released a laser green flare into space. It struck the asteroid in its center, causing it to disintegrate into many smaller, more harmless rocks.

"A hole in one!" Lime cheered. "Score!"

"This isn't golf," Brown protested. "More like basketball or something. One hoop?"

"No, one point for the space ship," Blue argued. "It's like a video game!"

"Will all of you shut up and let Black concentrate?" Red asked fondly.

Black gave a nod in return. Sticking their tongue out, they targeted and blasted another asteroid to bits. They turned to Red then, blinking until they got the message.

"You don't want to shoot any more?" Red asked, helping Black out of the seat.

"You said pretend they were the higher ups, and there were only two," said Black, shrugging. "Besides, I think Blue might like a turn."

"Aw, Black, you're the best," Blue exclaimed, hopping into Red's seat without hesitation. Lime made a vague sound of protest while Brown just laughed at their misery.

Red simply smiled back and patted Black on the shoulder before helping Blue adjust. "Don't just press all the buttons," Red scolded Blue, giving their hand a playful slap. "You're going to kill us all and then White will show up in the afterlife and kill us again."

"Technically they'd probably only kill _you_ because this was your idea," Lime pointed out.

Red clicked their tongue. "Lime, do you want a turn or not?"

Black stood there, warmth bubbling in their chest and slowly spreading outward. Maybe this was what they had craved for in their own society. Humans weren't always the best, but these ones here were treating each other like they were related by blood, when Black themself had left as a hatchling to survive on their own. Perhaps they fit in more with the humans than even they had realised.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Halloween!

When Black woke up in the early hours of the morning, they heard a rustling and footsteps above the vents in the cafeteria. Interest piqued, they made sure to open the vent as noisily as possible to alert whoever it was they were approaching - the crew had scolded Black after one too many heart attacks given.

It was Red and White, decked out in strange gear. Red was wearing a cape over their space suit and White had opted to wear the bushy eyebrows after all from a few days back.

"Black, you're up!" Red greeted them, holding cobwebs in their hands. "Help me with this, would you?"

"What's 'this', exactly?" Black asked, though they stepped forward and picked it up off Red's hands anyway.

"Shapeshift your legs and put it waaay up there," said Red, pointing to the ceiling. "Make sure it's dangling. We're decorating this ship for Halloween."

"Oh, that human holiday you told me about?" Black did as Red ordered, flicking the cobwebs a little to make sure they stayed. "It's today?"

"Yes," White replied, fiddling with a strange pointy hat and placing it on top of the cafeteria table's emergency button. "We're getting all this done for the kids. Since we're stuck in space, there's no real trick or treating or dressing up of any kind. This will be a substitute to tide them over."

"You keep calling them 'kids'," Black said idly, staring into the box of decorations. There was a white flowy thing and some scary orange faces stared back at Black. Black hissed at them.

"Black, these are just pumpkin decals, paste them on the walls, don't keep hissing at them," White scolded them, handing one of the grinning evil faces to Black. "Anyway, yes, they're kids. Lime and Brown are the youngest at 24 and that's half my age!" 

Black stared. "Wow, _you're_ a kid compared to me."

"I don't want to hear a peep out of you about this, Black!"

Black wisely decided to change the topic. "Brown especially would love this," Black commented, trying their best to follow Red's example and paste a neat pattern of 'pumpkins' on the wall. "The rest also like to be scared?"

"It's just that scary time of year again, so yes." White smiled to themself, dusting their hands off. "We're done here. Red, do you have the candy?"

"All in here." Red grinned, holding up a basket that was filled to the brim with what Black guessed were snack foods. "Good job keeping this a secret, White."

"Same to you. Do the kids still have their hats?"

"Yeah, I hear they keep it with them on their desks," said Red.

"What, you mean like those stupid cat ears?" Black stuck their tongue out in disgust.

"Yes, exactly," said Red with a hearty laugh, petting Black's shoulder. "Come on, let's go wake them." Red sprinkled some of the plastic-wrapped bars into Black's hands. "You're in charge of Brown and Lime. When they wake up, throw these on them with no mercy, am I clear?"

"Yes, Red," Black said seriously. Red and White glanced at each other and nodded. Black took that as their queue to sneak into Lime's quarters first, the nearer room to the cafeteria.

As Black creaked the door open, not wanting to risk the vents in case they dropped the candy, they could spy Lime still fast asleep under the covers. How were they to wake them up? Well, Red and White had said humans liked getting scared today, right?

Lime _screamed_ as they were jerked awake by a tentacle shaking them harshly, coming face to face with Black's true form clinging to the ceiling.

"Black, what the _hell_ ," Lime snapped as soon as their eyes adjusted to the darkness and they recognised the shifting blob.

Black threw the candy in their face.

" _Black_! What on earth has gotten into you?" Lime struggled with the items for a moment before they realised what it was and their eyes lit up. "Oh! Chocolate! Is this for me?"

"Lime, what's the problem?" Someone asked blearily. Black turned to look and realised they had also somehow completed their objective of waking Brown up. Probably from Lime's screams.

"Happy Halloween?" Black said sheepishly.

"Oh. _Oh._ " Lime groaned. "I completely forgot. Fine, you got me, Black. Nice one."

"Can I have one?" Brown asked eagerly, moving closer to Lime. Black leapt off the ceiling and reassumed human form.

"Yeah, help yourself." Lime threw one of the packages at Brown, who caught it neatly.

"What's going on, has there been a murder already?" Pink appeared at the door this time alongside an amused White. "Come on, Black, at least have the decency to kill Lime in the morning."

"It _is_ morning," said Black with a raised eyebrow.

"Could've fooled me," Pink replied with a yawn.

Blue and Yellow were next to arrive, and Red trailed them. "Happy Halloween," Yellow said, clapping their hands loudly. "Apparently Red and White set up some stuff in the cafe. Let's go see and stop crowding poor Lime."

"If you want to see it, you need to dress up." Red placed one of those pointy hats on Yellow's head. Red laughed as Yellow reached up to feel it almost indignantly. "Sorry, I don't make the rules."

"My costume's an astronaut," Pink grumbled.

"Laaaame." Lime had apparently recovered from their sleepiness. They had placed their mask on their head and handed Brown their fake knife. "Come on, let's go," they insisted, pushing Black along. The rest had cleared, all making their way to the cafeteria.

White was the first one there, holding up some orange cookies for everyone. "And after this we continue about our day and do our tasks, understand?" they said even as they placed some cookies in Blue's hands.

"You're no fun," Lime said playfully.

"This spaceship falling apart won't be fun either," said White with a shrug. "Anyway, hope you like it."

"Yes, please, let's not take these down forever," said Brown, snapping photos. "These look so cool."

"Well, we did put in a lot of effort putting these up…" said Red, rubbing their chin mock-thoughtfully. 

"Okay, okay, group photo before I have to go examine the pathogens in the med bay," said Blue, waving their arms around to get everyone's attention.

"Black, come on, let's squeeze," said Brown, pulling them into the center. They put their arms around Black's shoulders. Lime knelt down in front of Black and made a peace sign with their fingers. Yellow was on Black's other side, making bunny ears behind Black's head. Red, and White opted to just stand and smile. Pink made a big show of stretching and yawning. Blue, of course, took center stage, raising the phone high enough so it could fit all of them inside the frame. Everyone dropped their poses when Blue moved, crowding around them to look at the photo taken.

Blue played with the settings, adjusting the lighting a bit before showing everyone. Black leaned forward, taking in everyone's smiles. It was infectious, and they found themselves smiling as well, their fangs peeking out over their lips.

"Thanks for the candy, Red, White," said Pink, munching a chocolate bar with enthusiasm. "Turns out you old guys can have fun too. We've truly misjudged you. Please forgive us, our dear captain and… vice-captain."

"Forgiveness granted," said White with a roll of their eyes. "Eat these extra cookies as your reward."

Mouth full, Pink took one in their hand and offered the other to Blue. Blue accepted the offering, saying amidst crunches, "You heard White, we need to do our tasks now."

"Awww," Lime complained, but they started walking in the direction of the reactor anyway. Brown helped Red pick up the trash on the ground.

"And what about you, Black?" White asked, turning to the alien.

Black smiled mischievously. "Can I make it my task today to scare everyone?"

"Sadly, no. These tasks are important. You've done quite enough scaring today, good job." White of all people was petting Black's head now. "I'll give you some extra ham later."

Well, Black wasn't even sure if they could have been able to eat their human 'candy', but the offer of more meat was always welcome. They could get used to celebrating these human traditions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My culture doesn't actually celebrate Halloween. I hope it still feels festive enough.


	14. Chapter 14

"Black? Where are you? Black, come here, we have to show you something."

Pink's voice grabbed Black's attention instantly. The ventilation system of the Skeld had become very familiar to Black over their long stay, so they could find and locate Pink over at weapons. The rest of the crew were there, staring out the windows and chattering amongst themselves.

"Black, are you familiar with Polus?" Red asked, noticing their new member.

Black resisted the urge to let out a groan at that. Oh, the researchers. Right. Black almost didn't want this space voyage to end - they had settled in so comfortably that this huge hunk of metal was almost like home to them. But still, they had to follow the crew, didn't they? It was rather unlikely they wouldn't ever run out of fuel. Besides, the crew would still be there with them on Polus.

"Last I checked our planets have a neutral relationship with each other," Black answered, thinking. "Don't know too much about it."

"Alright, the first thing you gotta be prepared for is the extreme weather temperatures. The crew have already prepared for this, both from our training and White's bad days."

"I heard that!" White called, making absolutely no effort to leave Blue and Yellow's sides. They seemed to be pointing at something in the distance.

Black turned their head to the side curiously. "Are we nearby yet?"

"Yes, close. You can see a purple planet to our left," Red confirmed. "Anyway, so, on Polus you should expect it to be hot, then cold, then hot again. The planet has lava pits and snowstorms at the same time. Yes, I know, it's horrible."

"The heat I can handle, but the cold…" Black shivered at the thought.

"Don't worry, we've got you covered." Blue left then to present Black with a giant wooly pelt, grinning widely. "Look! Bundle up in this and you'll feel all warm and toasty."

"Oh, new clothing?" Black stuck their hand out and ran their fingertips over the surface. It felt soft and thick under their touch. Blue bent down to drape it over Black's shoulders and they leaned in their direction to make it easier for Blue. Once the pelt thing was settled, Black made a 'hmm' as they got used to the foreign feeling.

"Also, half the planet is missing," Red continued while Black was busy. "We don't know why, it's been like that for hundreds of years. Our scientists theorise something like the ice age happened there, but the overheating version."

"I'm sorry, what?"

"Nevermind," Red said quickly. "We just need you to be extra careful not to fall into any lava pits while walking around."

Black twitched their nose at that. "You think the crew there would let me walk around freely?" they asked, doubtful.

"Uh…" Red grinned awkwardly and shrugged. "Well, White's talked to captain Cyan and explained your situation. They should be... forewarned about your arrival. Surely they'll have time to adjust! It's been… weeks now?"

"It was the same situation for the MIRA employees," Black pointed out, pulling at the pelt around their shoulders. "Do you think they'll accept me? I'd like to believe it, but…"

Blue gave them a sympathetic look. "I know you feel wary now, Black, but why not give them a chance? We don't know they're narrow-minded. Maybe at least one of them will be like us!"

"If they bully you they'll have to answer to me," Lime chimed in, stepping beside Black in a show of protection. They squared their jaw and pushed their shoulders back.

"I'm the one with the torso teeth," Black chided gently, poking at Lime's side. "Don't worry too much about me, I can handle it."

"But can you handle the rocky terrain?" Lime asked with a raised eyebrow. "I hear that way lies mountains."

"I can't wait till we land there and explore!" Blue exclaimed with a gleam in their eyes.

"Do you two remember we're there for _research_ or do I need White to come yell at you again?" Red asked, amused.

"Oh sure, make me out to be the bad guy." White waved an arm in their direction in a parody of a slap. "Why don't all of you just behave? That includes you, Red!"

"White banned Black from the computers," Brown said with a grin.

"All I'm trying to do is make this ship run smoothly, oh no, the horror." White finally turned their head just to aim a fake glare at Brown.

"But White, do you know the Polus researchers?" Black finally asked. "Like… know them personally?"

White paused at that. "I'm not too familiar with the young ones, but I know Cyan. And on their front I'm hoping they'll see I've accepted you as one of my crew."

"Another stuffy higher-up?" Black asked with narrowed eyes.

"Well… I expect them to be as stubborn as I was before getting to know you properly," said White in an almost apologetic tone. "What makes this difficult is as captains we've communicated with so many other crews and seen the damage an impostor could sow indirectly. So, I expect Cyan to have some misgivings."

Black sighed and closed their eyes.

"We've been friends for years, though, so if not this entire crew, I'm hoping I can convince them." White's voice sounded nearer now. Then Black felt that familiar hand on their shoulder.

"And if you don't?" Black asked, opening their eyes again to look up at White. It felt oppressively hot all of a sudden, and their knees were trembling.

"Well…" White's gaze darted away. "I… I'll see what it comes to. I'm sorry."

Black nodded to show they understood. It would be rather selfish to ask White to throw away a long-time friendship just for them. Unless the other researchers really went over the line, Black would accept it.

"You'll still have Orange, Green and Purple to make friends with," Red reminded them, scratching the top of Black's head. Strangely, they didn't mind this for once.

"Do you know what they're like?" Black asked White, blinking.

"Uh…" White rubbed their arms. "The way Cyan described their crew was more of a long list of complaints than anything, and I wouldn't want to colour your first impression of them. Perhaps we should all judge for ourselves."

"No, I want the drama," Lime said cheekily.

"There is no drama," White sighed. "We were all young once, we've all made mistakes before. I know Cyan doesn't actually mean any malice. They're just… blowing off some steam."

"I thought you were bad," Pink observed, "but, uh, this Polus crew doesn't seem to get along well."

"They're no match for us!" Lime crowed, slinging a hand across Pink and Black's shoulder. Yellow and Brown finally stepped closer to view the commotion, giving each other amused glances.

"Yeah, look, whatever happens on that stupid planet we'll still be there for you." Pink smiled and drew Black into a one-armed embrace as well.

Black gave a quick purr of amusement before they plucked Blue's pelt off their back and slung it over Pink, running off in the direction of the windows. Black could feel the rest of the crew follow behind them as they pressed their face to the glass and took in the sights outside.

There it was - Polus, the purple planet with orange seeping through its cracked surface.

"Do you think we'll see any aliens?" Black asked, turning back to the crew.

"Other than you?" Red shrugged. "Maybe. Anyway, you still haven't let me finish my safety lecture. So, Polus has earthquakes that -"

"Oh no, no, no," Lime groaned. "I'm leaving, I've heard this a million times."

"Good luck, Black," Brown quickly agreed before dashing away with Blue who gave a quick wave.

"Yeah, our briefing was hours long," said Yellow apologetically, heading to electrical.

"I'll be leaving this here in case you get cold during the lecture," Pink called, having folded the pelt neatly into a roll on the floor. 

"Wait. Hours?" Black paled as the rest of the crew, even White, left them alone with Red in the weapons room. They turned to Red, giving them a pleading grin.

"Look, I'm sorry, you're going to need to know basic safety procedures. We don't want a dead impostor on our hands," said Red, shrugging. "Anyway, so, we have these seismic stabilisers located in places around our Polus base. There should be one on top of the -"

 _I hate Polus,_ Black thought with a painful smile.


	15. Chapter 15

While Red had given Black enough instructions to last them a decade, everyone on the crew had neglected to inform them about the horrible shaking as the Skeld slowed and eventually made its descent and landing. Unfortunately, Red and White had also left to pilot the ship, so the rest were stuck trying to soothe the panicked impostor.

"This is worse than the take-off!" Black yelled from underneath the cafeteria table. Everyone else was sitting on the benches or kneeling on the floor.

"Well, yes, it tends to be that way," said Blue sympathetically. "Don't worry, this will be over in a few minutes."

"Why is the ship _rumbling_?"

"We're travelling at high speeds, and we've just deployed the landing gear, but it's going to be a smooth landing. Don't worry," Yellow said, on their stomach pressed against the floor and trying to catch a glimpse of Black. "Red and White know what they're doing."

"We aren't going to crash into the Polus base, are we?" Black asked, daring to peek out more now that the trembling was starting to slow.

"Don't worry about that, we'll be fine. There's enough distance to slow our landing. The others know we're landing anyway, White contacted them an hour ago," said Brown.

Feeling more relieved now, Black crept out from under the table, Yellow moving back to make room for them. "Better now?" Yellow asked.

Black nodded back with a shy smile and drew their knees to their chest.

"How long will this take anyway?" Lime asked. "I want to look at the mountains and snow."

"A few more minutes?" Brown guessed.

"I just remembered. Here's your coat, Black," said Pink, draping the pelt over Black's head with a laugh. "There you go, no more scary space ship landings."

"Thanks, I guess," said Black in a monotone from under the cape, making absolutely no effort to move it.

"I can't wait till we get out of these stupid astronaut suits," said Blue, nodding at Lime. "The oxygen levels are similar to Earth's, so we get to wear cute coats for the cold weather."

"I don't want to hear any mooore," Black groaned.

Lime and Blue looked at each other mischievously. "The planet is known for the presence of hot lava in the craters on its surface, reaching temperatures as hot as approximately 124 degrees celsius," Lime recited in a mocking tone. "Protective gear to be worn include goggles and gloves for both heat and cold protection."

"Lava continues to flow deep underground despite the fact that temperatures on the surface of Polus frequently dip below freezing," Blue continued, wiggling their brows. "Polus winters last for approximately nine months, but their warmer seasons generally only rise up to twenty degrees celsius at the most. Care must be taken not to develop frostbite during the winters. Symptoms that you may be developing such a condition include -"

"Okay, okay, I get it, Red gave me the _condensed_ version!" Black huffed. "I promise you I won't go getting frozen to death!"

"You sure you can?" Brown asked, raising an eyebrow. "Who still sneaks into my room at night because it's cold?"

"I will… just… wear _two_ coats!"

"You sure will," said White, startling everyone in the room as they came into view. Red followed behind White as they added, "And head to the med bay at once if you start to feel numb."

"I'm more likely to be headed there from overexposure to Polus precautions," said Black, grumbling.

"Oh, watch out, this kid's giving us _attitude_ , White," said Red with a laugh. They handed out coats to Lime and Yellow next to Black. 

Black noticed they matched their colours, then quickly realised they were still wearing Blue's coat. They quickly turned to the crew member, but Blue shook their head with a grin. "Two coats," they said, slinging on another blue pelt.

"Well, okay, thank you," said Black, following the humans and clumsily zipping it up. This was the first article of clothing Black had ever actually worn, and it felt strange against their suit mimic. Black changed the texture of their body to more accurately mirror human skin at that, flexing their arms.

"Gloves," Red reminded them, holding out a pair for Black. Black obeyed, pulling them over their hands one at a time.

"Cyan, where are you? Are you coming to meet us?" Black's hearts dropped into their stomach as White walked past, talking into a radio receiver. "We've just had a safe landing, no issues here."

"It's great you're finally here, White." It was the first Black had heard of Cyan's voice ever, and it sounded far away and staticky, distracted even. Black's sharp hearing picked up on more faint voices in the background and the sound of something crashing.

"Is… everything under control?" White asked, sharing a glance with Black.

"As fine as it'll ever be around here," said Cyan with a sigh, voice sounding clearer now. "How do I say this… the kids were so excited to have you come over that we've all gotten far too caught up in discussion. We've just realised we were supposed to leave a while ago."

"We can walk over to meet you."

"That'd be great, thanks." Then Cyan paused. "The impostor's with you?"

And there it was again. Black tried not to look like they were listening in, following the rest of the crew outside the ship.

The doors had opened and Lime and Blue were having fun outside hurling snow at each other. Brown was laughing before they, too, got smacked in the face with slush. Pink gasped in exaggerated horror before they were bending down and kicking a rock half-heartedly in Lime's direction.

"Black is very friendly," said White behind Black, their tone more pleading than they had been with the MIRA employees. They stepped in front of Black and headed towards the rest of the crew, but still gave them a comforting look. "Come on, you trust me, right?"

"I haven't trusted you since that terrible concert we had twenty years ago," said Cyan, seeming more amused now. "I'll still be watching them, but sure, I'll give them a chance. You can't fault that, right?"

Black let out a breath they hadn't even realised they'd been holding.

"I guess that's fair," said White, relieved. They signalled to everyone present to start walking in the direction of a worm-down pathway. "And the kids?"

"Are you kidding? Green and Orange have been bouncing off the walls ever since they found out you had an alien with you."

"You told them?"

"They were _eavesdropping_ on our call, more like!"

White turned to everyone behind at that and gave them a smirk before they resumed leading the way. "That's being in charge of a crew for you," said White, amused. "Same here. They're driving me absolutely crazy. Especially Red, you'd think they'd know better!"

"White, why are you talking trash about me?" Red asked with mock sadness.

"Red, I heard you scared the imp - Black by telling them you ate seafood?" Cyan had started laughing.

Black looked up at that, before glancing back down in case the Polus crew members could see them. It was a strange fear, given that they were meeting soon.

"How could you tell them about that?" Red exclaimed, socking White in the shoulder as they burst into laughter. 

Their laughter was quickly drowned out by the sound of a motor, though, getting closer and closer. By the looks of it, their captain was confused as well, as White had stopped in their tracks.

Moments later, a strange metallic contraption burst out from behind one of the valleys, skidding into view and coming to a stop. The door opened to reveal three more humans inside, all wearing coats in their shades of colour.

"Good job, Purple," the orange-clad human was saying, snickering as they beckoned the confused Skeld crew over. "Come on, you guys, we ain't got all day."

"Where's the impostor?" Another head emerged from behind Orange, their eyes glittering with excitement. "Captain said it was Black, but there are two Blues!"

The window of the driver's seat rolled down at that. "It's… um… probably the one with black hair?" Purple offered, looking awkward.

"Purple, you're so smart!" Green gasped. "Hi! We come in peace!"

Black blinked. _What?_ They turned and looked at the rest of the crew in turn, all of whom looked very confused.

In that same moment, the strangely quiet receiver exploded in volume so much White had to turn it down. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" Cyan yelled over the radio. "Did you kids just _steal a jeep?_ White, go closer! I want to know who's driving this!"

White obliged, giving the crew a withering glare as they handed the device over to Purple. They took it with quiet thanks and flinched as Cyan began yelling, "Why did you think you could just run off without permission?!"

"I-I'm sorry, captain, I… I was just…"

"Oh, Purple." Cyan calmed at their voice. "Tell me which of those two put you up to it."

"I-it was my fault, mx," Purple stammered, clutching the steering wheel. "They asked me to…"

"Purple. Green or Orange?"

"But, I mean… I was the one who gave in to them, it's really not their faults, captain -"

"It was me, Cyan," Orange said, leaning forward over the driver's seat. "I mean, Purple does fuel stuff, I thought that was qualified enough to drive this thing, you know?"

"It's not about _qualifications_!" Cyan sounded beyond frustrated at this point. "It's about _sneaking off with a jeep without informing me_!"

"But, Cyan, how are we supposed to show the newcomers our awesome video without the screen to play it on?"

"...the video?"

"We worked very hard on it," Green chimed in. And at that, they waved at the Skeld crew once again. "Come on, guys, there's plenty of room in this thing, it seats twelve people!"

"I… okay," said Lime with a shrug. One by one, the rest of the crew streamed in.

Black found themself as second last inside the 'jeep', though White had elected to sit next to Purple at the driver's wheel. They realised Pink next to them had slung a rope-like thing across their chest, and looked at them questioningly.

"Buckle your seat belt," Pink explained, pulling another from somewhere over Black's shoulder.

And then an empty screen descended from the roof of the jeep. A few moments later, and Orange and Green appeared on it, grinning and holding up identical peace signs. "Welcome!" Orange proclaimed proudly in the video.

"Oh my god, that's me, that's me," said Orange excitedly, elbowing Green beside them. 

"Polus is kinda fun and all," said video-Orange, holding up an instruction booklet labelled with 'FOR TRAINEES ON EXPEDITION 172.' Then they grinned and threw it away off-screen. "But what's really important here are the friends you will make along the way!"

"...owww."

Video-Orange's eyes widened at that and they dashed offscreen. "Purple, are you okay? Don't just sneak in like that next time -"

The video cut off abruptly after that, switching to Green saying with a thumbs up at the camera, "We're so glad to have more helping hands around here! I work in the mines all day and it's just so boring!" A long shot of Green lying on the ground in some tunnel-like area and doing absolutely nothing.

"And I'm the archaeologist!" It cut to an upside down Orange, wearing a hat and lugging around a heavy weapon. Black realised they had probably forgotten to flip the recording. "It means I dig up cool rocks and leaves and stuff and I give them over to…" Orange gestured offscreen with a flourish. "Our scientist, Purple! Who doesn't want to be in this video, but, like, we assure you they're an actual person."

The real life Purple was staring straight ahead at the roads, focusing their all in driving and not this horrible disaster motion flick.

"And last but not least, our beloved captain…" Green and Orange jumped up and cheered together in the tiny screen. "CYAN!"

The camera panned over to a very tired captain in the bathroom. "What… what are you two doing?" Cyan asked, disgruntled, washing their hands in the sink. "Do you mind? Can you take this elsewhere?"

"But, captain, you never want to do anything fun ever! Pleaaase, we're shooting a super awesome cool video and we need you in it, please!" Orange begged with hands on their chest.

"You'll get cookies if you do so," said Green seriously from behind the camera.

"I hate sweet foods," Cyan grumbled, eyes bloodshot.

There was a pause and then Orange was loudly yelling, "Impostor!", the camera was wildly shaking, and the scene cut. 

This time, it was Green holding up a cardboard sign with 'We hope you enjoy your stay :)!' written in black ink. Then the video ended.

The Skeld crew was left staring at each other and wondering what they had gotten into.

"...Purple, how long until you all make it back to the base?" Even Cyan seemed to be struggling to come up with a response to that.

"We're pulling in now, captain," they responded. A few moments later Black clutched at Pink's arm as the jeep swerved and backed up into a lot. Black peered out the window, and saw maybe two or three buildings in total, made to blend in with the purples and grays of Polus's landscape.

The door of one of the buildings was _kicked_ open and it did not take much effort to guess the absolutely furious human was Cyan in question. They strode over to the jeep, yanked the doors open, and pointed a finger at Green and Orange.

"You two," they said lowly. "Dish duty. Laundry. For a week. Am I clear?"

"Which of us does what?" Green asked, timidly raising a hand.

"I. Don't. Care." Cyan hissed between their hands. 

"I'll do dish duty," said Orange, high-fiving Green. "I love it when it gets all squeaky squeaky!"

"Awesome!" Green cheered.

Cyan sighed, turning to White and the rest of the Skeld's crew, giving them a tired smile. "Welcome to Polus."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone's wondering, these aren't the same characters as the ones in my other works. But yes, it is super funny with that extra context


	16. Chapter 16

The crew had stepped out of the jeep and now Black found themself amongst eleven others. At least until Green and Orange had smiled and waved before running off in the direction of the kitchen.

“What are you doing?” Cyan yelled after them, with Purple wincing at the loudness of their voice. “Don’t go _yet_!”

“But your talks are always boring and we already knooooww,” said Orange, their voice now far away, because somehow the duo had the speed of a racehorse. 

Cyan sighed and simply turned back to the Skeld crew. Their eyes swept over each of them in turn, stopping on Black. They tried not to feel intimidated as Cyan started, “Bunks are that way, and we’ve got uniforms for you. The bathroom is to the north from here. Make sure not to get lost in decontamination.”

Never mind. Black felt themself stiffen and shrink back as Cyan narrowed their eyes at them and asked, “This is the legendary Black?”

“Yeah, but they’re harmless,” Red quickly said. “See? Look into their big innocent eyes.” Black let out a small yelp as Red placed their hands on their shoulders and shook them once. They could hear the smile in Red’s voice as they continued, “A little baby. Sweet precious thing.”

“I am _not_ a hatchling!” Black protested. “An adult in eighteen years, in fact!”

Cyan gave Red a deadpan look before they turned their attention to Black. “Is there anything special you need for your stay here?”

“I… no, I don’t think so, but I’m not familiar with this planet,” said Black, resisting the urge to reform some of their tentacles to twist them together nervously. Instead they settled for the human gesture of scratching at their arm, a habit they had picked up from Yellow.

“How did you find out they were an impostor?” Cyan asked, this time turning to White.

White shrugged. “Poor kid had a breakdown and revealed themself almost immediately.”

“...huh.” That seemed to grant Black some favor in Cyan’s eyes, as their shoulders had relaxed slightly at this new information. They looked Black up and down, commenting, “I thought it’d have been your alien behaviour.”

“Well, there _was_ that,” said Lime, laughing. “They really like leaves and will probably strip the trees bare in the summer. And spam pressing the emergency button. And hiss and scratch sometimes, but only if you tick them off. But if they like you they’ll purr a bunch so it all checks out in the end.”

Cyan stared at them blankly. “White, Red,” they finally said, “you have brought a _cat_ into this base and pets are not allowed here.”

Red burst into surprised laughter and even White was smiling. “Oh, not again,” Black grumbled under their breath as Brown clapped them on their back.

“Accept the truth, Black,” said Lime seriously.

“Think of it this way. If Black’s sapient, are they really a pet?” Yellow cut in.

“No,” said Black, putting on their best annoyed expression and watching as the crew continued to laugh _anyway_. They could already imagine the uproar back home. Once upon a time, humanity hated and feared the impostors. Now they were likened to those furry little earthlings and Black was the instigator. 

Ah well, there were worse things to be compared to.

“What can you do?” Cyan finally asked, sensing the sheer unamusement coming from Black’s direction.

“The crew have taught me how to do a few simple tasks,” Black replied. “I can help if you’d like.”

“That’s good. You had better earn your keep.” Cyan didn’t seem to trust them entirely yet judging from the way they kept firmly out of the crewmate’s jokes. Understandable, but Black couldn’t help feeling skittish around the captain. Their aura was just so scary, choking even. Black really didn’t want to run into them on a bad day.

“I can survive on sunlight,” Black said as if that would be a small peace offering.

“No, no, none of that, we’re going to feed you _properly_ ,” White insisted, giving Cyan a challenging look.

Cyan shrugged, accepting it. “Yeah, okay. I suppose you can walk around and see if anyone needs assistance. And we’ll let you have some food in return.” _You’d better not sabotage anything,_ was the unspoken sentence.

Cyan’s gaze felt heavy on Black’s skin. They tried to draw Blue’s coat tighter around themself. “Understood,” they said meekly.

“Glad that’s settled,” Cyan said simply, before they clapped their hands and called out, “Purple?”

“Yes?” came the quiet voice from behind. That was strange, considering Purple had been beside Cyan minutes ago. Black turned and realised that Purple had somehow placed themself firmly in the corner of the meeting room without anyone noticing, holding a plastic cup.

“Please take the new crew on a tour. I have some things to settle for MIRA together with White,” said Cyan. They gestured for White to follow as they stepped out the door. White looked between their friend and Black, a dash of concern sweeping across their face before they left.

“Um, hi, guys,” said Purple with such a blank expression that could only mean they were panicking internally. “This is the office, but I guess you knew that already. This is… the water cooler. You can… get hot water here. If Cyan ever asks you to make their coffee.” They pointed at the contraption next to them, the taps labelled clearly with ‘HOT’ and ‘COLD’. “Oh, I guess you knew that already, too…”

“I found that helpful, actually,” said Black, taking pity on the scientist. “I’ve never seen one before.”

“Oh? That’s right, you’re an alien,” said Purple, fidgeting. “I mean, well, you can… yeah.”

Their voice trailed away. Everyone stood there staring at Purple for a few more moments before they finally coughed, put down their cup and pulled up their tablet. “I can just share the map?” they asked with a hint of desperation in their voice.

“Purple, don’t be like that!” Orange stuck their head into the doorway, giving everyone a double thumbs up. “You gotta give them a real tour.”

“Orange, did you forget to wash your hands?” Purple asked, staring at the soap suds dripping from Orange’s ungloved hands.

“Yeah, this idiot was so overcome with enthusiasm they ran all the way here without turning the tap off!” Green came into view, laughing.

“Green, did you forget to wash your _hair_?” Purple asked then, staring up at their head.

“My… my hair?” Green’s eyes widened, their thankfully clean hands wandering up to the messy strands. “Aw come on, are these soap suds in my _hair_? Lame.”

“You should take a shower,” said Purple sympathetically. “Try not to scrub so hard next time, okay?”

“But how can we help you give a tour if we’re _busy_?” Orange complained. “You don’t even know all the cool stuff in here anyway. You’re in that boring lab forever and ever.”

“Cool stuff?”

“While you were working Green and I were making snowmen! Oh, I know, you guys could come see it,” said Orange, grinning at the Skeld crew now. “You can all add your own! And you!”

“What?” Black asked, alarmed that this stranger was pointing straight at their chest.

“Can you make _magic_ snowmen?” Orange’s smile was almost maniacal and there was a mad sparkle in their eyes. For the first time, Black realised just how much those heavy helmets truly hid - humans communicated in strange non verbal ways sometimes.

“...no?” Black had no idea what a ‘snowman’ was either, but they certainly could not perform magic.

“Wait, I know,” said Blue suddenly. “Black, you can shapeshift into something cool, press yourself into the snow on the ground and voila! Instant custom snow angel!”

“A _what_ now?” Black repeated, bewildered.

“I can see it!” Brown said excitedly, grabbing Black’s arm and leading them outside while following Orange’s lead. “Work can wait till later, we can do fun stuff first!”

“Yeah! We just crash landed in the middle of nowhere!” Lime cheered. “Time to celebrate!”

“Well, this does count as part of the tour, so I won’t tell Cyan,” said Red, shrugging, flanking the large group from behind.

For Black, suddenly becoming the center of attention after months of the Skeld crew getting used to them? A strange feeling. Still, though, Orange, Green and Purple were at least more hospitable than Cyan. And as Orange eagerly dove into the snow as a demonstration of what a snow angel was, Black felt like they could at least get used to those three.


	17. Chapter 17

The snow was cold. Way too cold. Black hated snow. They never wanted to go anywhere near it ever again. They were so thankful when Green had deemed everyone wet and cold enough after that horrible 'snowball fight' to go back inside and warm up.

Ah well, at least the others had fun. And Black at least had several potential new friends. But then there was still... after.

Whether because they were out of luck or because Cyan had ensured it to be so, Black found themself sitting next to the three seniors as everyone gathered for dinner that night.

"Green, Orange," Cyan said calmly, "why are there _soap suds_ on the plates?"

"Oh, huh," said Orange, squinting at the metal surface. Purple hovered next to them patiently, cradling several plates of actual cooked food that smelt fresh and delicious. Black could tell the crew were looking at it more than longingly as Orange swiped their index finger along their plate.

"We must have forgotten to rinse them off," said Green cheerily.

"I could tell," said Cyan with a murderous smile, "considering your _hair_ still has soap in it!"

"Aw, no way, it's still there?" Green reached up to pat at the loose strands. "Thought all the snowballs would have done the trick."

"Excuse me? _Snowballs_?"

"Everyone, please don't fight, I'll wash them," Purple said in a pleading tone, setting down the food on the table and passing them around. 

"You're not washing them, Purple!" Green insisted with a stubborn shake of their head. "We will! Promise!"

"Yeah, what if your soap suds contaminated your scientist hands or something?" Orange added. "That'd be terrible."

"That's… not…"

"Let's go! Let's go!" In a flurry of motion, the duo swept the offending plates off the table and into their arms. They bounded away, still cackling madly.

Black leant forward, the mouth-watering smell beckoning them in. Without thinking, they opened up their second mouth and swiped one cocktail sausage off the plate, gobbling it up in seconds. They realised Cyan was staring at them in shock and hurriedly said, "Um... excuse me?"

"No, uh…" Cyan flapped their hand at the plate. "Go ahead."

Sheepish, Black occupied themself by chewing on more meat and listening in to the conversation White was starting. "Is it like this everyday?" White had asked, turning to Cyan.

"Every. Single. Day," Cyan seethed. "They're going to give me a heart attack! Or a stroke! Or a seizure!"

Red laughed at that, using their fork to spear a cocktail sausage and point it at Cyan. "It's good to know you're still the same as ever. You've been saying that since you were what, eighteen?"

"That's when we become legal adults, yes," White said with a roll of their eyes. "Cyan's just always been way too dramatic."

"No way. You guys actually were friends?" Lime asked, pausing in their chewing to point at White with their other hand.

"Yes," said Cyan, the ghost of a smile passing over their features. "White and I met as classmates in high school." Cyan glanced at White, then reached over and slapped Red's arm lightly. "Red was three years our junior, in the same club. I took care of them for our mentorship program and I've never managed to shake them off my tail ever since."

"Wow, you guys are so old." Lime took another bite. "It's so weird to think you were once like us, you know?"

Incredulous, Cyan narrowed their eyes at Lime before they gave White a look. "You tolerate this sort of insubordination?" they asked, gesturing at Lime. Lime, for their part, simply shrugged and smiled apologetically.

"We're one big family now after so many months training and journeying together." White then placed their hand on Black's shoulder, who jumped a little, not expecting it. "Including Black," White said, the challenge in their eyes made clear.

"Hm." Cyan looked Black over, their carefully neutral gaze revealing nothing. "Fair enough."

Black felt the tension in their shoulders dissipate as Cyan's attention was redirected to Red. Really, Black was starting to realise they were doing this on purpose. Because Red was grinning, throwing up peace signs and saying, "Also, the three of us were in a _band_ ," and White was choking on their water.

" _No_ ," said Cyan in horror.

"I was the drummer!" Red continued, despite White burying their head in their hands and groaning. "Cyan was the bassist and White sang and did guitar!"

"You can _sing_?" Blue's eyes were wide. "White, why did you never tell us before?"

"Well, I… uh…" White's face reddened. "See, the thing is… our genre, uh…"

"We did punk rock!" Red said, ignoring White and Cyan's silent pleas to just _stop_ already. "White's so great at screaming cause of that!"

" _You_?" Even Purple had joined the conversation, gawking at their captain. " _Punk_?"

"Of all the worst days ever I've had since arriving at Polus," said Cyan, exasperated, "this has got to be one of the worst. I'm leaving. My appetite suddenly escapes me." With that, they sent their chair skidding backwards and stalked off in the direction of the bunks.

"I'll write a new song and title it 'The Cringe Keeps Me Up At Night'," said White with a similarly disgusted facial expression. They stood up, following after Cyan.

"Come on, guys, we weren't _that_ bad!" Red yelled after their retreating backs. This went ignored by the two. Red shrugged, turning back to their captive audience. "Well, sausages anyone?"

"We're still missing the plates," Lime pointed out, their expression remaining one of shock.

"Did we miss anything?" Green and Orange appeared then, carrying exactly twelve plates in tow. "Where are the captains going? We ran into them and they seemed really steamed."

"They both stuffed themselves on sausages and are way too full now," Red said with a snicker. "I bet it's indigestion! Our old bones just can't handle that."

Black did not mention how the majority of the food being gone was due to their stress eating, but Orange and Green didn't question the excuse.

"Ha! That doesn't sound like Cyan, but maybe they're in a celebratory mood now that you guys are here," said Orange, giggling as they passed out ten plates.

The meal then passed in relative quiet, the crew enjoying the taste of Purple's cooking. Black, however, was able to pick up traces of faint whispers from beyond the dining room with their acute alien hearing.

"Ugh, I guess I need to hurry up and get over myself," Cyan was whispering to White from afar. "You and your crew just won't let me go until I accept Black, am I right?"

"As much as it pains me to be caught in Red's crossfire, you're right," said White with faint amusement. "So at least learn to hide your judging stare. You're scaring the poor kid!"

" _I'm_ scaring _them_?"

"Indeed. Black's not very used to humans like us, let alone you. Cut them some slack."

"I suppose I don't have a choice, do I?"

Questionable methods, certainly. But Black couldn't help a faint smile upon hearing those words.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaah, I work as an art teacher now from 9-7 daily... I'm sorry, I've been so tired recently


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some more reader requests included.

"You see anything down there?"

Black sighed, rolling their eyes as they adjusted their back against the metal _thing_ pressing into their sides. Clean the vents, Cyan had said. It'd be easy for a night-vision-having, shapeshifting, alien invader, they said. 

Well, yes, Black was eager to help their crew in any way they could, Black wasn't very fond of these _new_ vents. They couldn't even really be called vents. They were more like holes in the ground that no one had bothered to patch up in centuries. Rather uncomfortable for Black, who was used to the sleek texture of steel.

"There seems to be dust," Black joked, using their tentacles to sweep the dust cloth around. "Oh! I made a discovery! A dust _bunny_!"

"Literally amazing," Lime replied with a cackle. Their face appeared above, grinning madly. "Never seen one before. Do tell."

"That's another one gone," said Black, dipping the cloth back into the water bucket. "Any more?"

"Those are the only vents nearby the seismic stabilisers." Lime hummed in thought above ground. "I believe Pink and Blue need you in medbay?"

"On it. Thanks, Lime." Black popped out of the vent with a smile, saluting Lime before they travelled onward to Pink and company.

Black heard the distinct sounds of voices from above as they resurfaced. This caught a rather surprised Cyan off guard, who flinched a little before they regained their cool. "Ah, Black, nice of you to join us," they said with a polite nod in their direction.

Black sheepishly waved back with a tentacle. It wasn't much to write home about just yet, but Black was happy Cyan was at least trying to put Black on even footing with the other humans in mind. Maybe White and Red's unorthodox plans had worked. Black had to admit, when they had first stowed away on the Skeld, the last ally they would have expected to have was the captain - yet, White seemed the most fiercely protective of Black so far. It was a situation that warmed Black's multiple hearts.

"You guys continue," Black finally said in reply, looking at an amused Pink and Blue. "I mean, unless it's important and you don't want me eavesdropping. I can go elsewhere."

"It's okay," Pink said immediately. "You stay down there and clear rocks. Cyan just wants us to know where everything's kept."

"It should be rather easy. Purple is very organised and keeps things arranged by size," Cyan continued, turning their back on Black. Black was unsure if this was a dismissal or a signal of trust.

Hang on, did Pink really say to clear rocks?

Black shrank back down into the vent, observing where metal met shoddily placed gravel. Someone really should clean this up. How old was this space base anyway? If even Black found the standards subpar, surely it wasn't good news for whatever function they served? Then again, did they serve _any_ function? Black distinctly remembered a vent in the office that served absolutely no purpose other than spooking an already jittery Purple.

"Your rocks," said Black minutes later, popping out of the vent to gesture with them. With expert aim, Black flung them all into the nearby trash can in several graceful arcs.

"Nice, Black, all that asteroid shooting really was good training for you," said Blue, laughing as they clapped.

"...asteroid… shooting?" Cyan repeated with an odd look on their face.

Blue realised their mistake then. They turned to Cyan, hastily correcting, " Yeah, um, don't worry, it was just at asteroids, we promise! Black's still harmless!"

"No, that's not the issue here," said Cyan with a frown. "It doesn't matter who does it. As long as they're doing it without proper certification, that's rather dangerous at best! Who allowed them access to the controls?"

Pink and Blue looked at each other. 

"It's Red, isn't it?" Cyan concluded with a sigh, slapping their hands against their head. "Ugh, for the love of… when you landed I didn't imagine Red would be almost as much of a hassle as Green and Orange!"

 _Black, make your escape,_ Pink mouthed at the stricken alien in the corner. Black gestured at Blue, but Pink just shook their head as discreetly as possible, before waving Black off. Black gave one final awkward smile before retreating back into the earth and heading to… literally anywhere else.

To be honest, Black had no idea what they were doing now. This new system of vents was a dense network they weren't used to. Black found themself popping outside in the cold, and then in the bathroom, and then back in the office.

"Red, White, you're kinda in trouble," said Black when they ran into them in the vitals room.

"Cyan?" Red asked, smirking a little. They turned around to face Black in the vents, leaning forward in interest.

"Yeah, about that… they found out about the asteroid thing." 

"Ah." White closed their eyes and sighed. "Should have known this would be an issue."

"I'll deal with their angry shouting, don't worry, Black." Red shrugged in a far too dismissive manner and now they were being waved off _again_.

So it was that Black was crouching beneath the offices, now at a loss of what to do. They had cleaned out every portion that needed cleaning, right? Were they dismissed? Well, there was no way Black was going to go to Cyan for orders now, so… 

Maybe it wouldn't hurt to explore a little?

Black eagerly recalled the one place with a… a tree, as Yellow had explained to them. That was a fun place! It had lots and lots of leaves. And the grass on the ground! Surely no one would notice if Black chewed on the scattered dead ones on the ground, right?

If they remembered correctly, the tree playground was to their left. Heading in that direction, Black perked up when they caught sight of a few scattered leaves on the ground. Black picked one up in their jaws, frowning as they realised this leaf had a more waxy texture. Maybe it was because it had been dropped for too long? A fresh leaf, yes, that might be better.

Black emerged out of the hole in the ground, and was greeted by the sight of Purple sitting near the thick roots of the tree. They were completely silent, their knees to their chest, and they were holding out their hand to…?

"Oh!" Black yelped as they caught sight of the thing in front of Purple. More accurately, the little ball of fur. It was a bright blue furry quadruped with one eye, and its moist pink tongue was dangling out of its mouth as it panted. 

Yet, at the same time, it caught sight of Black. It pulled its lips back in a snarl, a loud growl emitting from its chest as it bristled in anger. Black retreated a few inches back into the vent, all while shooting a surprised Purple a questioning glance.

"Shh, shh. It's okay," Purple finally said, putting one gloved hand on the back of the creature's head. It stopped growling, but it continued to stare at Black warily with its one eye. 

"This is Black," Purple continued, gesturing at the half-human form Black was currently taking. "They're friendly. They won't hurt me. They're… like you? I think."

"We aren't," Black pointed out. "This critter's equally as alien to me as to you."

"Ah… right. I'm sorry."

"It's okay." Black clambered out of the vent, shifting back into human form to hopefully put the creature at ease. It gave a suspicious sniff, though it sat back down on its hind legs. Clearly nowhere near as comfortable as it had been with only Purple around.

"Sapient?" Black asked.

"Doesn't seem to respond to more complex commands, so I assume not," Purple replied. "Unless this is a baby of some kind. Do you know?"

"I don't really know anything about Polus beyond the three hour briefing Red made me memorise in one," said Black with a sigh. They tested their luck trying to sit down beside Purple. They didn't know who would bolt first - the flighty scientist or their strange blue companion.

"Does it have a name?"

"It responds to anything, but I couldn't really call it Cyan," said Purple in an almost regretful manner. "When I was sneaking food to it, though, it seemed to really like oatmeal for some reason. So its name is Oats now, I suppose."

"You were sneaking food?" Black turned, surprised at Purple's nerve. They hadn't thought they of all crewmates would go behind Cyan's back like that.

"I… I saw it in the snow, one day… and I couldn't just leave it alone," Purple muttered, watching as the blue creature started sniffing its own butt for some reason. "It was all alone, and it looked hungry… I know Cyan's on guard for impostor threats, but now that you're here, there's no way its one, right?"

It was the most Black had ever heard Purple speak. Willingly, anyway. "I… well, maybe?" Black nervously trailed their fingers down their legs. "I don't know much, to be honest. The academy was really vague. And they sent me here without much training… I'm lucky I'm still here, to be honest."

"I see." If there was anything Purple wanted to ask, the scientist thankfully kept their curiosity at bay.

Black and Purple sat for a while, watching as the blue alien contentedly laid down on its stomach, floppy ears twitching.

"What are you going to do with it?" Black asked.

"I don't know," Purple admitted quietly. "I haven't brought them inside yet because I don't know how Cyan will react. And Green and Orange might scare it off… and I don't even know whether it'll be able to coexist peacefully with all of us." 

"Cyan's giving me a chance now, so they might be more open to it," Black replied. "This creature... it's probably harmless if it bonded with you so easily."

"You think?"

Black chuckled. "I don't think giving us free food will earn you any points in most of our eyes."

"Hmm." Purple turned back to the creature, obviously deep in thought. Black's attention was dragged back to it when it gave a loud burp and its tail whacked the ground repeatedly. Apparently it believed Black was of no danger now.

Most likely a prey species? It was also… actually kind of cute. Black felt themself smile as the creature, just like Black, clearly took enjoyment in chewing on the dead leaves on the ground.

"Maybe we should keep it around after all," Black finally said. "Would be interesting."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the blue dog pet, by the way.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Impostor On Board (fanart)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27047665) by [biblically_accurate_angel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/biblically_accurate_angel/pseuds/biblically_accurate_angel)




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